crossposted at my blog
Mi Vota es… pues.. MAYBE mi voz…
Well, I went and did the voting thing– and here’s the report!
The little hamlet east of Yuma, Arizona I live in has the polling place at the elementary school, right off the main drag out of town and to I-8. Dutifully, I dragged the S.O. to the place to get there just after 6am when they opened. On the way there, we saw the local PD putting up a sign for a Diesel Fueled Vehicle Checkpoint on the main drag, next to the polling place’s grounds. By the time I finished voting (having to cast a provisional ballot which then got counted because someone forgot it was provisional and now they will have to pull it out later– oh dear!– since I didn’t receive the early ballot they said I had been sent). My sticker should have said “I THINK I voted today!”
When we went back out, the stop was in full action, police directing people and cars, and trucks being pulled over to be, I have no idea, “inspected” for diesel fuel lawbreaking? It was slowing down traffic to the highway, and no doubt freaking some people out with the police and the flashing lights and trucks being pulled over.
What in the HELL were they thinking? It’s not like election day is a surprise… Conveniently, polls opened at six, diesel fuel checkpoint went up at six. What were they looking for? Sure, some people might be scared off voting, but you also are pissing off voters like me who have limited time to vote because we’re going to work. What if I had been driving our diesel truck?
I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I DID exercise my right to let the Yuma County election folk know via email what was going on there. ANY kind of situation which could impede voting by ANYONE (including lack of ADA access) should be removed and remedied. I did let the poll workers know that the checkpoint was going up, and I hope against hope they asked someone to try to deal with it. In a fiery election season, the last thing anyone wants is the APPEARANCE of voter intimidation. If I was going to vote and was carrying the legal forms of ID (but say no picture ID), I think I might be a bit freaked by the police next to the polling place. Since it’s also a school, you’ll have CRAZED traffic the whole time the stop is there. Let’s not even mention the farm worker trucks being pulled over with day workers from Mexico or who are now going to be late picking up the day workers from the border.
The police have the right to their checkpoint. Is it not obvious, however, that on election day perhaps you might catch those evil emissions violators a little LESS close to the main drag and the polls??
Like I said… I exercised my right to vote… I THINK. After all was said and done at the polls, they forgot to give me back my little copy of the provisional ballot which I could have used to find out if my vote counted.
This is better than Chicago voting!
**NEWSFLASH
I did get an email from the elections commission a few hours after I reported the issue. They weren’t even aware the town had a PD, and were asking who else was there. Like I said… no one I saw! And I still don’t know if my vote counted!