I wasn’t able to vote in the California primaries because I didn’t get an absentee ballot. But I was able to vote in the Democrats Abroad primary – online. First I had to register to vote by the week before. There was some identifying information that I had to give – date of birth, last 4-digits of SSN, last place of residence in US, etc. So I put in all this info. Then I was emailed a link with ballot number and PIN. So on Super Tuesday, the day online voting started for the week, I went to the local internet cafe and cast my vote. It was rather unceremonious. I guess it’s the same as if I sent in my absentee ballot, but I expected something a little more fancy than a grey java box with selections for Clinton and Obama. I guess my expectations for bells and whistles online has increased over the years.
Even if elections could be done completely securely, without fear of hacking or contesting results, I don’t know if I’d like it to be completely online. There’s a lack of ceremony to it. I could have gone to a local pub to vote online with other Democrats Abroad members, but was a bit too busy to get there. I guess people could hold voting parties, but then do you really want a bunch of drunk people thinking it funny to vote for the communist party candidate? Or would that not happen?
