On November 2, voting day, I heard and saw something I’m glad to see only come around once every four years: The plague of pundits. For three hours, in morbid curiousity, I watch two broadcasters repeat that they had no idea who was winning the election but that the public should stay tuned. BLAH!
I asked several writers at The Free Press to talk about their voting experience this year. How do we vote? Here’s their perspective of voting in the 2004 presidential election.
Joseph R. Thompson
News Editor
A Surreal Election Day
All around campus, I see them: stickers declaring “I voted today.” Well, not me.
November 2 this year is just another day. All it signals is an end to political advertisement on the radio. And I will no longer have to dodge campaign signs on my ride to school. I will not be heading to the polls today.
I already voted, weeks ago. If people feel left out of the political system now, they should try going absentee. Go into the town office, fill out a form, seal and sign an envelope. It was about as exciting as registering my car. No sense of vindication for exercising my right as a citizen. No immediate results to let me know my vote mattered. No one introduced themselves, asked for signatures, or gave me a sticker. No long lines. No poll challengers or lawyers or anything else I had been hearing about for the last six months. It was easy. It was boring. It was surreal.
But I don’t really care; my candidate probably won’t win anyway. [Editor’s note: he didn’t.]
Erik Eisele
Staff Writer
Voting for my neighbors
As I was on my way to vote Tuesday morning I flipped on Howard Stern’s radio program just in time to hear one of his guests talking about their voting experience. At his polling place he gave them his name, verified his address and that was it. He wasn’t asked for identification. Shouldn’t that be the procedure? He thought so. He also thought that maybe he should go back and vote again a little later in the day. And again and again.
This being my first time voting and not really knowing the procedure, I was confident that my voting experience wasn’t going to carry that uneasiness. So, I got my ID ready, stepped up to the seemingly deaf woman at the verification table, said my name three times, verified my address twice and was on my way. Hmm, I know my neighbors, and their addresses. I also happen to know which way they plan to vote. Voter fraud might not account for many votes, but it can be done. It would take five extra seconds for someone to check an ID, unless, of course, the person at the verification table was blind too.
Molly Lovell
Staff Writer
Voting at the Expo
USM provided a courtesy shuttle bus from both campuses to the polling places. Dubbed the Liberty Bus, was driven by USM staff members Steve Nelson, Mary Kay Kasper and Alicia Menard. It was raining that day and some hydroplaning did occur. Despite the challenges, the experienced drivers ensured a safe trip for the voting students. There were two buses at the Gorham campus because there was a greater need for transportation and one bus was at the Portland campus to accommodate students.
I voted at the Portland Expo and there was a relatively short wait. After the Liberty Bus made a few stops at Portland Hall and Merrill Auditorium we swiftly made it back to the Expo. Once we arrived I noticed a fire truck and a police car. Apparently, a man had suffered a seizure because he was forced to re-register to vote. That is an example of how intensely passionate the voting public became during this election year.
April Mulkern
Contributing Writer
Al Franken at USM
I covered Al Franken’s visit to the Portland Campus Center last Monday, the day before the election. He spoke to about 150 enthusiastic students and faculty. This was one of the biggest turnouts for any event I’ve seen on campus. Franken was introduced by Larry Bliss, director of Career Services, who was also running for office in Cape Elizabeth.
Franken’s first action was to caper over to a collage of American political figures, part of an art display in the Campus Center. He instructed the audience to boo or applaud as he pointed at different faces: the audience obliged with ecstatic applause and vigorous revilement, depending on which face Franken indicated. He returned to the podium to give a short, but optimistic assessment of Kerry’s chances at the polls.
“There are conservatives who aren’t voting for Bush. There’s nothing conservative about a $430 billion deficit,” he said. “there’s nothing conservative about alienating our allies. We’re getting a new president and we’re getting it starting tomorrow.”
Franken spent about 20 minutes chatting and signing posters before he left.
John Bronson
Exectuve Editor