Anomalies of Election '08

Almost every election day, things go on, which are challenging to voters, and to election day officials. This election day was no different. Let's look at a few of the things that went on around the country during election day.

Tim Robbins went to his usual place to vote. The poll worker started to try to find his name and lo and behold, his name had been removed. Even though he had voted at the same place, for all previous elections. He was instructed to go to City Hall, to verify that he was registered and that he was eligible to vote. He traveled to the City Hall and verified his eligibility, went back to his precinct, and cast his vote. Now I wonder what happened to his name, could it be that he was tagged, due to his outspokeness on behalf of certain issues and against certain individuals, we will never know, will we? Just a little inconvenience, to make life interesting.

Then we have Oprah Winfrey, going in to vote, very excited, voting for the first time ever, for an African-American, one who she herself had initially rallied for. She touched the screen, to vote for Obama and when she looked to make sure her vote had been counted, it had not been recorded. Oprah got very upset over the situation, because this was a very special occasion and a very special election..She called a poll worker over and explained what had happened, she finally got her vote recorded. Naturally, it made the news, and Oprah told everyone about it, asking the people to verify that their vote had been recorded. It makes you wonder, how many other people, thought they had voted for the candidate of their choice and their vote was not counted. Only the Shadow knows.

One woman in West Virginia, voted for Barack Obama, looked at the record of who her vote was recorded for, and there was John McCain's name. She tried again and again and the same thing happened. She was assisted by someone, and finally had her vote recorded, for the individual she wanted to vote for.This is the same thing that happened in Ohio, and other states in 2004, a woman reported that she voted for John Kerry, and the computer record showed George W. Bush as the recipent of her vote. This was something that was going on in Ohio, for example, there were about 438 people in one town, and there were 4,000 plus votes cast in that area, a computer glich. Supposedly, the count was adjusted to the correct amount..

Then there was the place, where it was pouring down rain, this past Tuesday, and as the drenched voters, received their ballots inside, the ballots became wet. As they inserted them into the machines, they became jammed, and would not go through. They had to be dried before they could be run through the machines.

The most amazing thing this election, was that Florida and Ohio, were called before election night was over. The two states, which had caused such contention during the Bush-Kerry election in 2004. That to my thinking, was a minor miracle, in action.

So the 2008 election is over, we have a president-elect, and now the hard part gets underway. the governing part. I am sure other things went on that were not of the norm on Tuesday, but on the whole, this election day went smoothly. Maybe, by the next General election, there will be a better way to get people in and out of the polling places, without such long lines and long waits. Maybe we will have a month for each state to vote, or perhaps we will be able to vote from home, with a secure process. Now that would be a real anomaly.