It's Election Day. . .

A dejected future voter

It's the first Tuesday in November, Election Day, in the US. The rest of the world holds their collective — socialist? — breath waiting for the results every two and four years. The rest of the world may pay more attention than US citizens since not very many people care enough to go out and vote. In Presidential election years 50% to 60% of eligible voters bother; in non-President years, the turn out of voters doesn't even reach 40% of those eligible.  Once upon a time I might have vented about dereliction of duty as a citizen, etc., but I can no longer work up that sort of ire, when most outcomes of elections seem to run the gamut from disappointment to outright disaster. Election fatigue also needs to be seen as a major factor in suppressing voter participation. For months, citizens have been subjected to a barrage of political adverts in the press, in the post, on TV and radio, and very worst are the robo-telephone calls, whose frequency force people to turn off their phone ringers for a bit of household quiet. Last night the robo-calling reached such a crescendo that Bob could not telephone us from England because the message "all circuits are busy" was a constant refrain. I read that something like $5 billion dollars has been spent this year on the election — yes I did say Billion; a third of the country is on food stamp assistance and 50 million people have no health insurance, but the political machine rolls on.

I have voted in every Presidential and Congressional election by absentee ballot in the 12 years since we moved to London. Today I was able to go to the polling place at our town's high school to vote — taking a black marker to fill in the boxes denoting my choice of candidates on the large A3 size card ballot. I also voted NO on the three silly and damaging voter initiatives, such as reducing the state sales tax, when this state, like all 49 other states, is nearly broke, but I did vote YES on my support for medical marijuana if such a law is ever considered by the state legislature. So I have done my civic national and international  duty, but I have little hope for the outcome that will trickle out tonight and tomorrow from across the country. Friends are talking about making inquiries on the possibilities of moving to other, saner, countries.

Meanwhile, the post-Halloween pumpkins are still cheerfully adorning front steps around us here in New England.

Bibs and Bobs with our pumpkins.
The Jack-o-Lantern designed by Bibs

Down the street . . .

Up the street . . .