So today was primary voting day in WV, and I am even more disappointed than expected at the electronic voting machines that I had expected. (And my expectations were pretty low.)

I think electronic voting machines are a terrible idea. We had been using optical scanners, which allowed you to fill in a paper ballot with a pencil. Perfect, easy, foolproof.

But no. They had to switch to the computer voting machines.

Here are the problems I noted.

First and foremost, you cannot write in a candidate unless it was already set up in the machine to do so. THIS made me angry. Why? Because Mollohan is unopposed in the primary. And Mollohan deserves to be voted out of office. Now I’m going to be stuck with a choice between a someone with no ethics, and whatever incompetent boob the Republicans are going to put up. (You think I exaggerate? Ha.)

Second, the set-up was such that the ballot was not secret while you were voting. The three machines were set up all in a row so that you had behind other voters either coming or going, and as the font is OMG I’m going BLIND huge, even glancing in the direction of another voter’s screen you’d immediately see everything. Not a huge deal for a primary, when no one is likely to show up, but still completely unacceptable.

Third, the set-up was such that we had to walk over extension cords. Extension cords that were, of course, not taped down. I’m pretty sure that such a set-up is in violation of many safety regulations.

Fourth, I do not see how the set-up could be at all handicapped accessible to someone in a wheelchair or using a walker. Remember the extension cords? Remember the having to walk behind the other voters? Did I mention that this was a fairly narrow path? I find it unlikely that such a set-up would pass the muster for handicapped accessibility.

In summary, I HATE the new voting machines, and want to know why the hell the state has wasted so much money on them. Go ahead. Call me a Luddite. I’m too pissed off to care.