The right to vote!
I can't believe the video we watched yesterday in class! How is it that people want to vote and they have all of those big, huge problems to do it. I agree with some of my classmates. Voters should be responsible for asking, reading, informing themselves about the election process. On the other hand, parties and people encharged of elections are responsible for helping their voters and giving them the tools to know how, where and when to vote. The act of voting is the only of way of preserving democracy, and it can't be spoiled in the way we saw yesterday.
I was impressed, surprised , also terrified to see the mess and the chaos in those precints. It is unbelievable that voters had to wait three and four hours to vote. Also it is crazy that for a precint of 1,100 people only three machines were available. Who is in charge of this? If a country like the U.S. wants its citizens to vote, so make their lives easier!!! And it doesn't have to do with technology, budget, intelligence or anything like that. The process could be much better if there was organization.
I though that in Latin America we were very disorganized. But maybe our voting system can be an example. Unfortunately, in Ecuador the vote is not optional. Everyone has to vote, it is a demand, which I do not agree with, but that is another issue. We have a Institution (The Supreme Tribunal of Elections) they are in charge of the elections across the country. Prior to election day (which by the way is always a Sunday, where no one has to go to work) voters can consult via Internet, phone and in specific places in the city (like mall, schools, universities) where do they have to vote. As voters we get inform on the county we are register, the precint even the booth number where we have to vote. Until here it is responsibility from the voter to get acquainted with that information.
Unfortunately, in Ecuador, the election process lacks of technology. But that doesn't disturbs the process. The precints are open from 7am to 530pm. People vote on papers! Yes, I know you might be thinking about fraud, but until know there has not been one election where fraud has been proven. The precints have people everywhere that guide you inside the building to get to your booth. In Ecuador 8.4% of the population is illiterate and more than 10% is indigenous (not all of them speak Spanish). So, when they arrive to the precint they are lost in space, so guess what do they do? They ask!
As a reporter I have covered the elections and I have never seen anything like I saw yesterday in the video Emi presented. Of course I do not want to generalize, every precint, county, state is different from each other. But if a country like the U.S. which is always talking about democracy, is not protecting the citizens and encouraging them to vote, then what should we think? You have to start cleaning the mess in your own house. You have to improve the election process, you have to encourage citizens to vote and not disappoint them as we saw yesterday. They want to vote, give them the tools to do it!!
4 Comments:
We do have tools that allow people to vote early. Absentee ballots can filed. They are typically used if you are temporally living outside your precinct and wish to remain a registered voter at your precinct.
Also, many precincts simply allow early voting. This was the case in some areas of Florida in 2004. Many precincts opened two weeks prior to the election and there was daily coverage of the crowds at the polls, so it was easy to know that early voting was a viable option.
I think these are two great tools that were successful in 2004.
1:47 PM
I received a "reminder" notice from the RNC about voting do's and don't's. As I had moved down the street since the last election, I called the FEC and realized I was in another district and needed a new voter card. Without time, I went absentee instead which saved me time and resources to get to the polls.
Perhaps all candidates should send out "reminders" to ensure voters know in advance what to do and how to do it.
Meanwhile, I enjoyed last night's class.
2:27 PM
I was going to make a comment about how the United States has been voting longer - but Ecuador first had a Constitution calling for elections in 1830. I was guessing guess that people are apathetic because it's just assumed that it they have the right to vote, i.e. "My vote doesn't make a difference." It's sad.
It might take a crisis like the Progressive Era (when people were getting sick off of their water, ect) or denying people the right to vote to change this circumstance.
People just can't see why voting matters and the effect that it plays on their daily lives.
7:00 PM
I am not sure the situation in Ecuador, but in many countries Election Day is considered a national holiday. Many of these countries also have significantly higher turnout than we do in America. I do not know if the two are directly correlated, but I think having Election Day be a national holiday is something important that our government should consider. Everyone has the right to vote, but work, family, and school obligations can hinder the ability at times. I know at my job we are allowed a two hour leave on Election Day. However, in circumstances like Ohio, to get to your correct polling location, vote, and get back to work could very easily take more than 2 hours. I know Election Day will never actually become a National Holiday-there's no way Congress would agree to it, but I think it's a nice idea.
2:10 PM
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