By Henry Duval Santa Monica
Has voting in elections become, as I have believed in the past, just a joke?
A few years ago I voted at Santa Monica City Hall. I got the voting card and entered a voting booth. I placed a voting card in the proper slot and picked up the voting punch pencil and noticed that the punch pencil point seemed a bit shorter than it should be.
When I attempted to punch voting holes in the card, I realized the pen point did not penetrate the card fully. I showed this defect to a person who had given me a voting card and showed the person the problem. After getting a blank stare from that person, I was given a new card and a voting pen that would penetrate my card. But no one appeared to check other voting pens for possible problems. I even alerted the people who had voting booths for the opposite party than mine, as I only thought it was fair to do so. Well, I only got a blank stare from them also. I left the building in disgust.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 23, 2008. Read the original PDF.