Create Solutions Not Partisan Propaganda

Regarding tonight’s class discussion, I agree with three points made. First, there needs to be a certain degree of voter responsibility. It is up to the voter to find out where he is supposed to be and at what time. I feel a great deal was said on this topic in class so I won’t go into it further. Instead, I will focus on the other two points.

Yes, there are structural problems within our current voting system that need to be corrected so that the process will run more smoothly, and no, this is not a partisan issue. Well then, why did tonight’s discussion quickly turn into a heated partisan debate? Because films, like the one we watched in class, paint this as a partisan issue so instead of solutions being created and problems being solved, people waste time pointing fingers at each other.

The best word I can use to describe the film we watched tonight is propaganda, created to get people angry and fired up at Republicans who are "disenfranchising" would-be Kerry voters. For every line of people we watched waiting in line, I can show you an equal number of lines of would-be Bush voters waiting for 3-4 hours in the rain. In my precinct last November, a Bush precinct, on the election night, there were still people waiting to vote after 10 PM, and it was raining. Furthermore, the film focused on so called "problems" that weren’t even problems. For example, the polls close at 7:30. If you aren’t in line at 7:30, you don’t get to vote. Those are the rules. People don’t get to hold your place in line. You don’t get to be in the parking lot at 7:35 and still vote. If people were allowed to get in line after 7:30 sharp that would be an actual problem.

The truth is, actual election day problems occur everywhere with no regard for political affiliation, and they need to be fixed without partisan debate. Films, like the one we saw tonight, should portray all the problems not just those that back up a narrow point of view.