I like to vote, and I was planning to do so early and often this November.
To be honest, I missed the August primary. I was on lighthouse duty in the Apostle Islands during that election day, and I just didn't get around to casting an absentee ballot. So, the thing is, because I had the best of intentions, I believe I am owed another vote in November. I think that's only fair.
Then there's the whole issue of unused votes. What can we expect for turnout in November? Maybe 50% -- if we're lucky? And don't get me started about all the unused votes in August. Counting mine, of course.
So look -- if eligible voters are not going to use their ballots, it seems that folks like me, who want to vote a lot, should be able to help by not letting all those printed ballots go to waste. That's right. Unused ballots just go to recycling now. But if we are to respect the death of trees, we must not let this waste go unaddressed.
Not only is multiple voting the green thing to do, but it allows us to express the nuances of our preferences. For example, Mary Burke's a slam dunk for me, so I'd like to cast five or maybe six votes on her behalf. But I'm more conflicted about the attorney general's race. I like Susan Happ's positions on reproductive rights, unions, gay marriage and background checks for gun buyers. On the other hand, I don't like her opposition to making first-offense drunk driving a felony, and I think she’s just nuts for wanting to carry a concealed weapon. Her opponent, Brad Schimel, isn't any better on drunk driving, but I give him credit for not packing heat. So, let’s make it four votes for Happ and one for Schimel!
See how much fun this is? You wouldn't have to hold your nose and vote for the lesser of two evils anymore. With multiple votes, you can hedge your bets.
But now all that is just a dream. Last Friday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago messed everything up by reinstating Wisconsin's voter identification law. I'll now be required to show a little card declaring who I am at the polls, and because of uptight nanny-state rules that only allow one vote per person, I'm stuck with having to make hard choices. So what else am I going to do on Nov. 4? I had set aside all of Election Day to vote in various locations around the city.
And the decision came out of Chicago. Chicago! Are they serious? Chicago is the home of ultra-voting. Very often folks in Chicago don't even lose the franchise simply because they die!
I don't know. I just wanted to be a good red-blooded (and red-state-minded) American and vote. A lot. And now the over-reaching activist judges in Chicago have taken away my hopes of voting, several times, for candidates of my choice, by pretending to be a bunch of different people.
Okay, so now I've had my fun. Truth is, I believe everyone should have the chance to vote. Once per election. And we should make that as easy, not as hard, as possible.
The appeals court reinstated the Wisconsin voter ID requirements in response to a ruling by federal judge Lynn Adelman that originally struck down the law. Adelman pointed out that voter impersonation fraud was all but nonexistent in Wisconsin. In fact, it looked to him (and a lot of other people, including me) that maybe what was really intended by the Republican-ruled Legislature was not to deal with the phantom problem of multiple voting, but to address their real challenge of the many people who might not have easy access to ID who vote for Democrats.