Majority rule only works if you’re also considering individual rights. Because you can’t have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper.
~Larry Flynt
When I met Marsha*, she asked my political affiliation. It wasn’t one of those rude, “well certainly we all believe the same things, so let me hear you say it out loud” questions. It was an innocent inquiry from a member of a political minority seeking volunteers for the next fundraising/campaigning season. My answer, “Anarchist”.
************
Government is cumbersome. It doesn’t adequately protect individual rights or reflect the will of the masses. I don’t understand why officials waste tax revenue passing non-binding resolutions, or why we need so many laws. Is it so difficult to do the right thing that it requires legislation? And why are the citizens who pay the taxes deprived of social services while their dollars are exported?
The lawlessness that descended upon New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina is enough to make ALMOST anyone reconsider the notion that anarchy is anything more than a fight for survival. Obviously, society needs order, but do laws really deter bad behavior? I’m skeptical about the effectiveness of legislating morality.
***********
Three weeks ago, Marsha* called.
“Ms Chica, have you ever wondered what it would be like to work at the polls?”
Long pause.
“Marsha*, I can honestly say the thought has never crossed my mind.”
I agreed to clerk on Super Tuesday. Yes, I’m still an anarchist, but a passive and pragmatic one. I pay taxes, observe traffic laws, and return my shopping cart to the buggy corral. I may not believe in the effectiveness of government, but I have benefitted from some of its efforts.
When I told the Mister, he almost fell off the couch laughing. “Do they know about your, uh political leanings, or that you’re not registered to vote?”
So there you have it. I might be the first person to clerk at the polls who wasn’t a registered voter.
************
Our Board of Elections liaison told us to expect 100 - 120 voters, and we served 230. The goal was to try and vote everyone who showed up. The exception being, voters who arrive at the wrong precinct. Those individuals we were given directions and instructed to go to their assigned precincts. Voters without proper identification or whose registration was not able to be verified either via database or the Board of Elections are allowed to vote provisional ballots. Provisional ballots allow 48 hours for discrepancies to be rectified before they are counted.
We assisted one couple who had not voted in thirty years, and a woman who was voting for the first time at age forty-five. When I consider the reasons they chose to cast their ballots now, I wonder if too will change my mind one day.
I know why I should vote. You forfeit the right to complain when you don’t participate in the process (when has that ever deterred anyone?). As an eligible citizen, I have one voice and the right to one vote. One vote that counts the same as everyone else’s. With the electoral college still in place, and the politics behind super delegates and unpledged delegates, I feel like my voice has laryngitis.
It’s unlikely I will change my mind soon. The last twelve years have been littered with candidates I wanted to vote against, not for. An exceptional candidate or a constitutional amendment might rouse me from my stupor, but not today. For now, I am willing to work the polls. I might not have much hope for my voice, or finding a candidate I agree with more than 20%, but many people still believe and I think they should be heard.
It’s a paradox, but I don’t feel torn about it. I’m glad everyone doesn’t share my opinion. Diversity makes this country a better place. I don’t need government to dictate what is acceptable societal behavior and what is not. I understand it is up to the individual to accept responsibility for his or her actions and see that groups unable to stand up for themselves are not trampled on by society. Some need those parameters so we have government.
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all others that have been tried.
~Winston Churchill
February 7th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Did you wear your anarchist T-shirt? Were you the only poll worker under the age of 70? Were there cookies?
February 7th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I completely respect your feelings and think that our society is better off with diveristy in thoughts and expression. And I love the line about your voice having laryngitis. Especially in the Democratic race with the Super Delegates out their looming in a close election, this might prove true for many people.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I think George Carlin, who also doesn’t vote, said that when he tells people that they say “Well, you have no one to blame but yourself for being dissatisfied then,” and he is like “wait, I’M not to blame, I didn’t vote for this bozo - YOU did!” He is also fond of reminding people that Hitler was elected in a free, democratic election.
And I am also curious - was there anyone else working at the polls under 70?
February 7th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
cookies? Shit, there went any intelligent thoughts I had. Serves me right for reading blogs instead of making lunch for hungry younguns.
What you observed is interesting. I’m curious about these people mobilizing, “making history.”
When I think about history vis-a-vis a black or a female candidate for president, I start thinking about assassination. Am I too cynical or too rational?
February 7th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I love Churchill’s quote..this was great
February 7th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Hmmm. I am all the way on the other side, sort of an obsessive voter. So, this take was very interesting for me to read.
February 7th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I like to vote. I have been disappointed and made to feel my voice was not heard or even cared about and yet I return because I believe (delusionally or not) that if I don’t use my voice, I may not have the right to it one day. But I appreciate your stance. And Churchill’s.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
dissention is patriotic.
i love that you did that.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I’ve always thought it would be “fun” to be a poll worker (as opposed to a pole dancer which might be fun as well, but I am just to shy to volunteer to do that), just for the grins of ‘people watching’. That you choose to not vote is certainly your option…me, I’m a control nut and want the feeling that I am doing something rather than not doing something.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Oh Meno made me laugh in her comment!
February 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am
meno, no, but I’m almost wore my Polygamy Porter beer t-shirt. There were two others under seventy, but they were 63 and 66. And unfortunately there were no cookies….or wine.
Diane Mandy, having a separate opinion doesn’t mean I can’t assist others with rights. Helping them vote doesn’t infringe on my rights. I’m glad people still believe, for me it’s harder. This was the first year I’ve been aware of the Super Delegates…it blows my mind. With a close race, like this one, it could invalidate public votes.
QT, there were two. Of those, one was twice my age and the other was thirty years older than me.
I like the George Carlin quote. He has nice way of turning issues inside out doesn’t he?
De, cookies are more distracting than politics, yes? I’m curios about the mobilizing too. I wished I had reviewed precinct data for the primary four years ago. I’m curios if one party is having more success with increased turnout than the other. This area is more conservative, so the percentages voting in each primary doesn’t tell the whole story.
flutter, I often remember that quote when I find myself utterly disgusted with inequities of government.
Emily, being an obsessive voter is a good thing. I’m glad you spoke up. It took me three days to decide whether I would post on this subject because I knew I was running the risk of getting hammered, and rightfully so. I can’t speak on behalf of the masses who don’t vote, but my decision was not a passive apathetic one, but a conscious one.
My political stance has serious flaws, and I’m not so stubborn I don’t recognize my leanings are only effective if the majority of the population is willing to do the right thing. Large groups need more structure. My beliefs are impractical, but they are mine.
Maggie, I like that you and many others still believe. If I had it to do all over, I would still do my best to vote all of you in the polls.
jen, you understand. I detest the politics, but I respect the people.
Lynn, the people watching was very interesting. Our precinct wasn’t very big (900+), and it was very rural. We voted lots of families who lived close to one another and shared a real sense of community.
It’s great that you vote and I enncourage you to continue. I empathize with the control aspect. I suppose I felt like I was doing more by assisting others, than doing it myself. It felt strangely gratifying to come home that night and tell the Mister I helped 230 people use their voice.
crazymumma, she made me laugh too. I spoke with a friend in an adjacent county and she told me about two poll workers in their nineties. It impressed me, then I began wondering if their minds were up for the task…
March 7th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Just saying hi. I like you reading your stuff when I’m awake because you’re always so insightful, so I’ll do it in the a.m. But thought I’d say hi anyway. SEe you tomorrow.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
[...] who does not support the war should have his or her patriotism called into question. Sure, I feign anarchist leanings, I think democracy sucks, but I recognize it’s the best system we have. I appreciate and have [...]