Taking A Stab At Democracy
Voting has become like a lot of things in America; everything all at once.
Listen to this story: If you’re in the car, or cooking, or just lazy… you can listen to me read this story for you, in the audio file below.
It’s one of those weeks where we have to vote. Well, not have to, perhaps… but I really feel like you should, even though it’s become such a chore.
There’s always a couple of races I’ve got an eye on, but most of the ballot is full of people I’ve never even heard of, running for jobs I don’t really understand. So I’m ashamed to admit that for many of the races I’ve formed the habit of just looking up the Los Angeles Times endorsements and taking it from there.
What else am I supposed to do? Spend a week researching the long list of people running for Office No. 137 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court? That’s just one of multiple court appointments. Then there’s School Boards, multiple Boards of Supervisors, Ballot Propositions, before you even get to the Federal stuff. No wonder old people have so much sway over elections, only the retired and childless have time to follow all this crap.
I don’t take voting for granted. I lived in the US for a total of 10 years before gaining the right through citizenship. Until then, I was always frustrated by paying taxes, without an electoral voice. Then my first ballot arrived in the mail and the reality hit. Pages of candidates for mysterious bureaucratic jobs I couldn’t confidently explain well enough to satisfy my six-year-old. It’s up to me to know who’s a good judge? I know I can be judgemental, sure, but don’t we vote the other guys in to figure out that stuff?
Any sense I had of my vote holding power, soon turned to feelings of recklessness and guilt. Are you really fulfilling your civic duty when you vote so blindly? I’d like to ask all the people on social media flaunting “I Voted” stickers who they picked for California’s Assembly District 53 race and why. If someone asks me for the time and I’m not wearing a watch, I tell them that, I don’t just stare at the sun and make up a number.
Voting has become like a lot of things in America; everything all at once. Sensory overload. It feels like a diversionary tactic. Or maybe if they exhaust us, we’ll give up. Election binging elicits a creeping sense of apathy that’s endemic to politics these days, and maybe that’s the very idea. After all, they can get away with more when we’re not looking.
I feel completely disconnected from the process. Asked to simply sign off on candidates, based purely on their party affiliation, who are thrust forth onto the stage, from closed rooms I’ll never have access to.
Ultimately this is all just a warm up for the big one, coming this November, anyway. Presidential elections are years-long events in America. I’m already sick of the candidates and the campaigns haven’t even officially begun. Primary battles can be tedious, but at least they normally have a purpose. This year we already know who the two major parties’ candidates are. It’s not up to us, apparently. But don’t forget to vote in the primary!
Just making it to the ballot drop-off by our library this week felt like a battle. The parking lot was more busy than usual. There was someone with a folding table set up by the ballot drop box, seeking signatures for a petition for something. Preying on the socially conscious. I willed them not to talk to me and slipped by unscathed.
Still, it’s nice to get out of the house, so I played a game with myself; trying to guess who each person I saw had marked down on their ballot. A beautifully dressed older couple were hard to pick, they’d probably really done their homework. I figured the guy who looked like a fellow shaggy dad was as bad at this as me and our colored-in dots might align. But the lady in the squared-off, aviator sunglasses they sell at Army Surplus stores was going for the orange guy, for sure. Right? Your guess is as good as mine.
You’re right! It shouldn’t be this difficult to vote. But there are voting guides with advice on judges, etc. I actually wrote one! Plus I provide links to other guides that are also trustworthy:
https://erinplosscampoamor.substack.com/how-to-vote-on-march-5-2024-in-ca
Man, it really is a Byzantine process. The cynical me would assume it was designed that way because some people don’t want certain other people to vote. The not so cynical me thinks it could be an evolutionary process that’s gotten out of hand. Either way, that ain’t no democracy. But at least you can vote there. I would have to change my dna in order to have a voice here.