We have a “bone to pick” with a few voters out there. We selected the above picture simply as a representative view of what many election workers have to deal with each and every election day. We are speaking from personal experience and will attempt to shed some light on issues that election board workers must deal with in trying to resolve ballot issues that may arise in nearly every election. Are you complaining about how long it takes to get election results? Do you have any idea of what election board workers are faced with while attempting to come up with accurate vote counts and results? You may think that counting votes is a simple process, but unfortunately it is often compounded by some voter methods.
There are several facts that need to be explored. Some of them are obvious, and some are not. Some voters have a DISCONNECT either between their ears, or with reality, or maybe both. When the blank space on a ballot says “Write-in”, that does NOT mean to sign a name in cursive that only a professional signature verifier can resolve. For the most part, those signatures are the ONLY signature that a signature verifier has available to decipher. Unlike the signature verification process on the ballot envelopes, “Write-in” signatures will not have access to the other potential voter signatures to compare and resolve spelling, shape, size, and other technics used to read accurately a signature. Most election board workers only receive about two hours of instruction as to how to verify a voter signature. If you want to be a professional signature verifier, then you had better be ready to enroll in about a two-year course of instruction. You see one of the major challenges right away. Ballot signature verifiers are for the most part neophytes to signature verification. It is true that if a person has done it for several years, even with limited instruction, one does get better at the process each progressive year, but this is the exception, not the rule. So, please PRINT the name of the “Write-in” candidate.
If you are 18 years of age and are making your first foray into the voting world, you may want to sign a name without ever having had the proper education in cursive writing. So, don’t bother signing a name. Please just PRINT the name. It is a fact that most young voters do not really finalize their formal signature until their mid-twenties. Anything signed until then is basically just a new experiment. Election board workers are not mind readers, and it is not their job to follow your evolving signature style.
Finally, voting is not a joke! It is a demonstration of the FREEDOM and LIBERTY we enjoy in this great Nation. It is sad that many choose to not vote. In choosing not to vote, you are throwing away your right to complain about results. Some elections may see 80% turnouts, but those are the exceptions. Many local elections may only see a 25% turnout on issues directly affecting how your local community functions. Fire, water, and school district board votes have a direct impact on livability standards within your community. Local bond issues have the potential to provide advancements and improvements in the performance of policing and emergency services. Some day you may need those services that may not be approved, and you may suffer the consequences. Some issues may be pushed by a minority within your community and may not be something worthy or in line with the wishes of the majority. Failure to vote can leave you with a burden you did not want and could impact generations to come.
When those on an election board see “Write-ins”, like the one in the example above, they are dismayed in the disrespectful and infantile display some voters show to our Nation’s voting process. Not only are you proving yourself to be the jerk you really are, but you are burdening the election board workers with additional work to clean up the mess you made on isle two. Election board workers are obligated to record those childish votes even though we all know they are spurious. There are other ways that silly voters can mess up the voting system, causing election board worker consternation and frustration, sometimes even fouling up the sorting and tabulation of ballot machines and processes, but we will not name them as there is always the potential of arming nefarious actors with new schemes and devious methods. Unless your real name is “Micky Mouse”, he will NEVER be awarded a victory, so stop your infantile gestures, and take voting seriously! Grow up and be a responsible voter. Our Nation is dependent upon you so that we can improve our Nation and retain our FREEDOM and LIBERTY we are so fortunate to enjoy, not only for ourselves, but for our posterity as well. Thank you for letting us “pick a bone” with a few voters out there.