Monday, October 20, 2008

Well, I did it.


My state just moved to a "top two" primary system which takes the top two vote getters in the primary and promotes them to the general election. Only two candidates can appear on the general election ballot. Libertarians do not use primaries because as a party they decide who their candidates will be and don't force the public to pay for the voting process of a private party. Consequently Libertarians have all but disappeared from our state's ballots where only eight short years ago Libertarians obtained major party status.

I obviously undervoted on my ballot but because of voter fraud issues from 2004 I decided to vote write-in on many but leave the line blank. This will prevent anyone from filling in my vote later or possibly interpreting my vote (like Florida in 2000).

How did my ballot breakdown?

I voted for:

4 Republicans
4 Democrats
8 Blank Write-ins
1 Libertarian (Bob Barr)

I'm already fully aware my vote has meant nothing except to add to the number of people who are still willing to engage in the political system and aren't buying into the "government solves everything" attitude.

So go ahead and vote. I'll hold your hair back.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why didn't you at least write-in yourself or someone you wanted to vote for? Choosing no one is truly wasting your vote.

Tracy said...

In Washington State a write-in vote is only counted if the person written-in has also filed for office in Olympia as a "Write-in Candidate."

Voting Write-in and leaving it blank is the next best thing to not voting at all with at least some assurance that some party hack doesn't fill it in later.

In 2004 there were two recounts and I just want to make sure my ballot isn't tampered with given the chance it could be handled several times beyond the election day.

Also, my ballot was filled with idiots I couldn't possibly cast a vote for.