I Wonder If Any Election Results Were Influenced By Voter Verification

Elections are finally over for a while. The last thing you probably want to hear is anything about the election, but I have to wonder if the modern voter verification procedures in any jurisdictions influenced any outcomes. After all, there were some close races across the country. I just have to wonder.

I haven’t voted in person for years. I think the last time was 2004 in Nebraska. Maybe 2005 or 2006. I don’t know. That wasn’t so bad. There was a small bit of a line, but it went quick. They checked some kind of ID against a list and you got your ballot. Since then I’ve done mail in ballots.

However, this year my ballot was lost in the mail so I had to vote in person. Actual voting took maybe four minutes. It was about the same for everyone else. There were tons of voting booths open…because the line for voter verification was endless.

I’m serious. There were maybe at most 100 people ahead of me in line when I got there. It took an hour for me to get a ballot.

I don’t know what it is about these verification procedures, but they take forever. They have to use a computer database here now. Once they verify you they put a sticker on a form you have to sign and give you a ballot. I guess it’s kind of nice because you can vote anywhere in the county instead of an assigned spot, but an hour line just to get a ballot when there are always at least half the booths open for voting?

I’m sure special situation people caused lots of problems. People not registered to vote. People who moved. Whatever. Whatever the cause, it took way longer this time than it every has before. I just have to wonder…did everyone wait the whole time? How many people saw the line and just went home instead, or waited a while but not long enough, or weren’t able to get through the line in time before the polls closed?

Some of these races came down to a couple thousand votes, regardless what or who you were hoping would win. How many weren’t able to vote, or just didn’t end up doing so, because of the lines caused by the voter verification? I wonder, and I wonder if it would have made a difference in any of the races across the country.

I just hope I get that mail in ballot next time.