Voting, an absentee's tale

It's that time of year, folks. The time when our thoughts turn to our elected officials more than ever, and we are reminded of our right and duty to select them with due care. Living in the UK, I have already voted by absentee ballot. Today I will present, for your amusement, the steps to absentee voting, and, for your information, some of the websites I used to research candidates.

Step One: Find out where I'm registered. I used the county clerk's website from my last place of residence in the USA, it allowed me to confirm online that I was registered there.

Step Two: Request an absentee ballot. I was able to do this online, although I did telephone the office to ensure that I was in fact still registered and eligible to vote.


Step Three: Receive ballot in post, lovingly crumpled by USMail/Royal Mail/we'll never know who. Open ballot, smooth out. The ballot lists the candidates and you use a pencil to fill in the bubbles next to your choice. Just like standardized tests back home in school.


Step Four: Research the candidates on the internet. Easier said than done, I had almost no idea who was running for Missouri offices, Boone county offices, etc. Luckily I found a handy website that listed all the candidates running in each state, and their campaign websites. You might say "can you really learn about the candidates from 1,000s of miles away, using the internet?" Well, yes. I probably know more about each MO candidate than I did about the Ohio candidates last time I voted when I was registered there during college, and I'm betting more than many resident Missourians who are voting. So there.

Step Five: Complete ballot. Making sure to use number two pencil. (optional - spill lemonade on ballot. )


Step Six: Stand in queue with irate middle-aged women, bored-looking office dudes, and friendly old ladies at post office for half an hour. Pay extra for confirmed delivery option. Yay, my civic duty has been completed!




So, you want those websites?

For state candidates:
http://www.uselections.com/ (just do a search for your state name)
shows candidates' names and parties, has link for their websites if they have them.

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
you can search by state, candidate name, even for propositions and such.

and of course there's the good ol' Google search and Wikipedia entry for many candidates/issues

For presidential candidates:
http://obama-mccain.info/index-obama-mccain.php
a fun and unbiased side-by-side comparison of the two main candidates, very easy to use.
Also has transcripts of the debates.
Did you know? Obama's car is slightly less fuel efficient than McCain's. And he has no pets?!
Did you know? McCain...well just read the part about 'spouses.' Shocking.

http://www.votesmart.org/
Probably the largest, most popular source of unbiased candidate info.
Has detailed voting records, speech transcripts, LOTS of info. A bit harder to use, but more info.
Can also look up state candidates and such on this site!
Why will neither major prez candidate take the Political Courage Test?

Well, those were the best sites I found as far as actual, factual information on the candidates.

One of the interesting aspects of this particular election is the age difference of the candidates. Its massive at 35 years. McCain would be the oldest president should he be elected, and Obama is only 47, pretty young as far as presidents go, if I recall correctly. I don't think it influenced my vote much, as I don't think McCain is likely to keel over while in office, nor do I think Obama's comparative youth is a big problem, but I wonder if it will effect the voting public at large.