These 3 Things Bug Me about Utah Elections

I went to the polls this morning, and I found a couple of things that really bothered me. Find out what they are below.

What will you be doing tonight after you vote? Will you be sitting with eyes glued to your television set? Do you prefer to get your updates from the internet? Or do you not care at all? I'm actually very intrigued by what will happen tomorrow, both on a state level as well as nationally. Here's my battle plan.

This Really Bugged Me when I Voted this Morning.

One Party is More Important Depending On Where You Live. Did you get a chance to look at the official ballot for Utah County that was being provided to voters as they waited in line? In every single case, the name of the Republican candidate was placed at the top of the list of candidates for that particular office. In Salt Lake County, the Democrat candidate was always listed first. Imagine that--the politicization of politics.

Normally, in all fairness, the names for each office are alphabetized.

Straight-Party Balloting Should Be Made Illegal. This is one of the dumbest inventions next to the unaccountable Diebold voting machines. I was momentarily confused this morning when the first question the machine asked me was which party I wanted to vote for. I wonder how many people don't realize that it's okay to click the "Next>" button without selecting something on that first voting screen.

Why Don't They Let Me Keep a Printed Copy of My Ballot? I know--this one is an old beef--but it still bothers me greatly that I have no idea what's going on inside that voting machine despite the fact that it correctly tells me that I voted for Governor Smith, Congressman Jones, and against Initiative 1. There should be a way that I can have my unique voter number printed out for me, and a web site where I can ensure that the votes for my number were actually tallied correctly.

My Election Day Battle Plan.

After I go to the gym in the morning, I'll probably stop by the Santaquin City Center in my sweaty clothes to hurry and vote before the line gets too long, so that I can get to work on time. I hope they're still long anyway, even though 330,000 Utahns have already voted, which amounts to 30% or more in some counties.

During the day I'll probably tune into USAToday.com, MarketWatch.com, KSL.com, MSNBC.com, and GlennBeck.com to see what's going on. As soon as I get home, I'll tune in again, probably every now and again though, with a couple of good books by my side.

I'm irritated, but not depressed, that either McCain or Obama

Will there be another protracted incident the likes of the "hanging chad"? Will the Supreme Court get involved yet again? Or will we know by early Wednesday morning who the next president will be?

Where will you get your election coverage information? Will you stay up late? Or are you just going to wait until tomorrow to find out what the outcome was?

will be our next President. I'm not concerned in the least that Obama will throw us a socialistic sucker punch in his first 100 days. I'm not even worried by the fact that the Democrats will have huge majorities--probably even to include a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. There's not a whole lot of difference between Republicans and Democrats these days, anyway. It just makes for excellent theater for the millions of people who think there is a difference.

I hope that at least 5 million people vote for Chuck Baldwin, Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, or Bob Bar. That would mean somewhere around 2 percent of the population had the brains and the cojones to vote for a non-Establishment candidate.

In Utah's 3rd Congressional District, I'll be voting for Jim Noorlander. Bennion Spencer and Jason Chaffetz are actually both fine candidates (Chaffetz is a bit brash from time to time, though), but Noorlander would represent Utahns more effectively than the others.

In the Utah State Legislature, I expect that there will be a better balance between Democrats and Republicans. My "biggest fantasy" of the entire election would be that Chris Buttars, Greg Hughes (despite what I wrote about him here previously), Greg Curtis, Becky Lockhart, and Curt Bramble get waxed by their opponents.

I hope for Bob Springmeyer to do well against Jon "Blue Ribbon Panel" Huntsman, and Jean Welch Hill to make a good showing against Mark Shurtleff. I actually wish Hill would clean Shurtleff's clock, but the polling numbers leave me less than confident that that will happen.

Are you voting for Obama? Will he win? Will there be a riot in America if he doesn't, as Glenn Beck predicts?

Will there be another protracted incident the likes of the "hanging chad"? Will the Supreme Court get involved yet again? Or will we know by early Wednesday morning who the next president will be?

Where will you get your election coverage information? Will you stay up late? Or are you just going to wait until tomorrow to find out what the outcome was?