Today was the last day of Early Voting, and we decided to try to cast out vote earlier, so that we would not be worrying about it on November 4, and we also expect much longer lines on November 4. The voting is form 7 AM to 7 PM. i was working in the office, and my wife picked me a bit too late, and we showed up at the City Island Library - the early voting place - at 6:40 PM. There was a long line, but we were told that it was moving fast, so we joined the voting crowd. The line was moving, but it was a long line, and we finally cast out votes and walked out of the Library 5 minutes past past 9 PM. I can;t believe I stood so long in line. The last time I remember standing so long in line was when I still lived in Russia.
Funny, my longest line back in Moscow was when I was trying to get the paperwork to submit to American Consulate. I stood in that line exactly one month.
Anyway, the line was typical American line. People were civil, kept their distance and privacy. The election was uneventful. We all left with the feeling that we did what we needed to do, and that our vote is really important.
I remember vividly one of the elections in Russia. I was a director of a Community Center in a small place in the Arctic. The community center was sponsored by a coal mine, and that coal mine officials were pretty much running the show in town.
The Soviet Union Supreme Soviet elections were in winter, and our Community Center was chosen as one of the voting places. They got the auditorium, set all the party decorations, brought everything they needed, those boxes, where you were supposed to put you bulletin, mounted booths for privacy...
When the election day came, the place was open from 6 AM to midnight. People were coming, registering at the tables, were getting the bulletins, went to the cabins and cast their votes. There was no need to fill out anything, you were not choosing as all you needed to do was to cast a vote for one and only candidate. Of course, you could go to the cabin, take a pencil and cross the name out, but I never heard anyone would do this. You needed a lot of guts to do that.
People were expected to come early, and there were special people, who would get the addresses of those who have not yet come, and they would take a small box with them, a bulletin, and leave. The smart ones would not go anywhere, they would stand somewhere close, hiding from the cold wind, smoke a cigarette or two, then put the bulletin into the box and then return and report that they got the vote.
I knew what you call a supervisor of elections very well. He was an economist at the coal mine, was a member of the Communist Party Board at the mine, and was in charge of elections for a few years. He came to my office right after noon time, and proudly said that he had already reported. I did not understand what he meant. Oh, this was simple. He has already delivered to the authorities the final report on the voting day in that location. The voting was still on. How could he report when it was not even over?
I was so naive. He could not care less about the voting. The day of the voting, when they got the voting bulletins, he set a few of his trusted people, and they filled registration forms and put the bulletins in the boxes, and by noon he had what he wanted to have: the full report. He knew what the authorities were expecting, he knew that he needed 99.9% of the votes, so he did exactly that.
All that mess with people coming and casting their votes was a farce. The report has already need sealed and sent to the regional committee. The guy was happy as he was consistently one of the first who reported early.
Of course that was 20 years ago, but has it really changed? The difference is that Americans think that this is their duty, and that the votes will be counted. Russians are skeptical (or practical), and they know that their voice means nothing.
Viva the new President!
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