that's what switzerland said

i promise that not every post here will be about politics but until november 4th i'm sort of in the proverbial zone. so this one is about the process of casting and counting votes and why the same country that put men on the moon and eradicated smallpox can't seem to figure out how to do it.

i saw a quick teaser on the news saying that some states are having problems with early voting. i also know that every time i go to my official "polling place," i feel like i'm in a crack house. i also know that the obama campaign has had to create a dedicated voter protection team simply to try to ensure that votes are actually counted. i also remember the year 2000.

i hate paper. i hate having to print things, i hate junk mail, i hate getting the newspaper delivered to my hotel room when i didn't ask for it, i hate files, i even hate file cabinets. so naturally, i hate having to make sure the manual hole puncher thingie punched all the way through my paper ballot. and i hate putting my ballot in a shoebox and trusting that it'll be safe at the crack house long enough for some official to get there and take it.

at best, the whole process feels very 1972. and at worst, suspiciously so. even the iraqis, who are brand new to this whole voting thing, make an attempt at election fairness via the interesting practice of finger staining. i did some quick research as to why it is that e-voting can't be implemented. i don't know about y'all, but if the internet's safe enough for my money, it's safe enough for my vote. i didn't really find a good answer, but i did find that it HAS been done successfully overseas. switzerland seems to really like it, and i like the swiss. even estonia has done it. so i'm sold. as a related tidbit, i also found out that 25% of identity theft happens online... leaving PAPER to blame for the other 75%. ironically, i'm gonna go watch the office now.

xoxo.