Yesterday I went to vote but was late, partly because of confusion about the hours for early voting:
I and others, however, were given the opportunity at this late stage to vote absentee right on the spot. We were handed a New York State absentee ballot application:
Note the six conditions to which we could swear were the true reason for voting in this manner. Obviously, since we were already in the voting place, the Westchester County Board of Elections office, we were not absent, ill, attending to primary care duties, at a Vet hospital or incarcerated.
So, what the heck? How would filling out and signing that form NOT be making "a material false statement ... as if ... duly sworn"?
This in person example simply highlights and illustrates the unethical nature of probably the vast majority of such voting, at least in New York State. Maybe it could be cleared up by simply not requiring a reason to vote my mail and the New York State people responsible for such things are too dumb and/or lazy to make the change. But it undermines confidence in the manner in which we vote. No other non-trivial act is treated so indifferently. None is not computerized. None.
If we can do pretty much everything else via computer, why not voting? Is it because voting is so much more important or because voting is so unimportant?
