How Not to Vote

I realize confessing this should be humiliating, but I figure there may be some lone soul out there who can relate and thus I will write to comfort you in your voting shame.

It all started when I decided it was a very important civic duty to vote (when I was 18, I decided that) but upon moving to Boston I have been thwarted by the whole "you have to register" thing. Alas, I am registered, but yesterday realized I didn't notify anyone that I had moved to a new address in the same city. I was relieved to find out I could still vote from my old polling station, whew!

This morning it was cold and rainy in Boston. As I began my journey to the polling station I realized it was at the public works building. The tiny room was set up with voting booths and lots of elderly women directing traffic. In the state of Massachuesetts we have a modified primary which means you can be listed as "unenrolled" and then select which primary you'll vote in. I wasn't sure how I was registered, so I was relieved to see I had the choice this morning ... not because I necessarily needed it, but you know how we Americans love to know we have lots of choices.

So, I get my ballot and move over to the booth where there is a very clear sign posted with directions on how to fill out the ballot properly. Have I mentioned before that I was that kid who completed the ten question quiz in school that had directions that read: "Put your name at the top and turn it in to the teacher, there's no need to answer the questions."?? Yeah, so I'm not great with directions.

I filled out my ballot and headed over with it in the privacy sleeve and as I fed into the counter it spit it back out and said "empty ballot!" I was confused and the guy standing there looked like he'd never seen this happen before, so he had me pull it out and cover it up. At the same time one of the sweet little old ladies at the registration table said, "Come here, honey..." so I went toward her and she said, "If you don't want to vote for anyone I'll show you how to mark it." What?!? Do people actually show up, get the "I Voted." sticker but turn in a blank ballot?? Seriously? So I said, "Oh, no, I voted for someone!" She took the one I had and said she would destroy it and for me to start over. I got another ballot and went back to the booth where I read the directions and was able to properly fill out the ballot.

Now, the shameful part is that I changed my vote on the second ballot. Yes, that's right, I am one of those Americans who isn't informed enough to make a solid decision at the polls. I'm sorry, America. Not only am I sorry for changing my vote, I'm kinda sorry for who I voted for because it wasn't a very informed choice. There's just so much pressure with Rock the Vote on MTV and all the other campaigns to get people to vote that I felt like an uninformed vote was better than no vote... am I wrong? Maybe, but it's been done.

I can vow to read up on the issues and make a more informed choice on the day of the actual Presidential election, but from what I hear the primaries are more important. There's always the 2012 race...