Plain and simple, it's a civic duty for any member of any democracy...not just the USofA.

And yes, I and my wife voted...would have asked for absentee ballots at the hospital if she had gone into labor last night (false labor, it turned out to be).

Fillin' out my voter dohickeythingy right now. Glad their open late.

CCotD'

I cheated and voted early - Maine allows people to cast absentee ballots regardless of whether they will in fact be out of the state. (We also allow voter registration at the polls, and convicted felons to cast their ballots. Maine really wants people to vote. )

The Auld grump, worried about TABOR.

Washington State now allows for absentee ballots even if you are just plain lazy.

I've never missed an election (my first was the presedential race in 1976) and have actually enjoyed the sense of accomplishment going to the polls. As others have mentioned, at the very least what you get is a permit to whine and complain about politicians. If you don't vote, then as far as I'm concerned, you've waived your right to bitch.

But busy lives and all that have nearly caused me to miss out once or twice, so I caved and signed up for the absentee thingy. Which came in handy, because it's rained here like a son of a gun for days and my street flooded down by the corner (nearby river overflowed, taking out a horse pasture and our road). School buses can't run, school has been closed (only just found out it's closed again tomorrow too due to flooding, mail service has stopped (at least on my street).

I would have missed voting today being unable to get to the polling place, so I'm glad I mailed my ballot in last week!

Steve

Down here, voting is compulsory. You can be fined if you don't vote (but you still must register when you turn 18; I have known a few people that did not).

I've heard of places that require voting, but I don't approve of it. One of your freedoms should include the right to choose to participate in the process or not as you see fit.

How do they know if you actually voted?

On today's ballot, there were maybe 40 items requiring a decision. I could have filled in one bubble and left the other 39 empty if I had wanted to. Nobody will ever know how I voted. All they will know is if someone with my name, at my address, either mailed in a ballot form (which is processed by machine, the only thing humans do is verify my signature and sundry details) or showed up in person and signed the registry.

But I could immediately leave the polling place never having actually voted.

So I'm curious how they "make" you vote. I'm guessing all they can do is make you show up.

Being a mere resident, I don't get to vote anyway... which is a good thing as I really do not understand the overcomplicated system in the US. Things were far easier in the UK.

Good luck to voters getting what they want.

Arabin

Well, almost all of the people I voted for won, the only loser that I feel really bad about was Green candidate John Eder, who held, for a time, the highest elected position of any member of the Green Party - State Senator. (Nice guy, I am sorry that he did not win, but he lost by only 2%.)

TABOR (TAxpayer's Bill Of Rights) was roundly and deservedly defeated, but hope that Legislature will learn from this - Maine really does need to work on its taxes, and if Legislature won't handle it then sooner or later something like TABOR will pass.

And, as expected by some, the Democrats have gained both the House and the Senate in Washington.

Now the grumbling will start for 2008.

The Auld Grump, grumble, grumble, grumble....

It will be interesting to see if some of the dire predictions of the GOP come true (taxes raised, roll-back of portions of the Patriot Act making us easier to be attacked, freeing lots of detainees in Cuba, a quick exit from Iraq, etc).

It will be interesting to see if the Dems can get anything done, even with both houses under their control. It takes leadership and I haven't seen much of that from them lately. They are great at attacking republicans and saying what they have done wrong (backseat driving is always easier), but they are not quite so well organized when it comes to putting forth an agenda of their own.

I simply hope what I always hope, that when it comes to issues that really matter, they can ALL put partisanship behind them and work together for the common good of us all. I wish them all good luck.

On news closer to home, the rain let up and the river has crept back below it's embankments. My street is no longer flooded! I was able to drive around town and find all the low spots (lots of lakes here and there, and several inches of mud in various parking lots). Saw quite a few houses with pumps and hoses draining water from their cellars, and piles of carpet ripped out of their homes and flung onto their lawns.