.Voting isn't a social studies MCAS test where you have to demonstrate that you, unaided, know the answers. It's an act of civic participation whereby each voter expresses a viewpoint on the candidates and issues at hand. In town meetings, we vote in public, with plenty of opportunity to chat before and during the vote. Those votes are as legally binding as ballots on election day. Similarly, people can vote by absentee ballot, at home or wherever, with all manner of assistance and with no real time constraints.
Our voting processes are complex and imprecise. We try to balance the rights of groups to voice their opinions, of individuals to act according to their consciences, and of the general public to know that the votes were counted as accurately as humanly possible.
We're coming up on the 10th anniversary of Bush v. Gore in which activist judges decided that the state of Florida should stop counting the votes in the 2000 presidential election because the Florida Supreme Court erred in its scheme to fashion a recount and that there wasn't time to create a new scheme that met constitutional requirements.
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| via Ballot help defies spirit of the law |
So, people vote for many reasons and in many ways. Governments and others determine how the votes are tallied. As I said, our processes are complex and imprecise. We're trying to bring as many people into the process as we can. Yes, we need to do so legally. We're not helped by snarky comments about voters who are new to the process and uncertain about what to do. Particularly when those comments are made by an otherwise good political reporter.
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