Ah, Good Old Paper

This morning, I voted. I went to my local polling station, showed no ID, waited in no line, filled out my paper ballot, dropped it in the box, and went to work. Easy.

After arriving in the office, I received word from a friend who recently moved from Massachusetts to Ohio and is voting there for the first time.

He waited in line for three hours this morning to vote, not because of the multitudes of good citizens ready to let their voices be heard, but because of broken Diebold machines.

The information circulating from county to county this morning was that Cuyahoga county in Ohio (Cleveland and the surrounding 'burbs) is the only county in the state that is having issues. Cuyahoga is also the only large "Democrat-dominated" county in all of Ohio. As of 10 a.m., there were no reported issues in Cincinnati, Dayton, or Toledo, much more conservative cities. It's hard not to wonder what's happening. It will be interesting to see how the recently tightening Senate race between Republican Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine and Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown pans out.

Ohio is not the only state already experiencing issues, though it has the highest number of reported issues so far today.

I thought very little of my voting experience until hearing this story. I know I voted. I saw my vote go into the ballot box. There were no issues with machines that would give me no record of my vote. There were no mechanical difficulties or long lines to discourage potential voters. There are no scandalous rumors of how elections are being run in certain counties, at least not yet.

In a country where so few of our eligible voters even bother to vote, we all should be doing what we can to ensure a fair and transparent election process. And none of us can take for granted our right to participation in the democratic process.

If you'd like to do something today, consider joining the Immediate Response Network. And to stay active, become a UUSC Human Rights Defender to receive regular e-mail alerts about opportunities to advocate for justice on specific issues related to UUSC's major program and advocacy initiatives.

UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: Polling places turn to paper ballots after glitches