Why I didn’t vote in 2008.
I’m making this post in hopes of using it as a detailed explanation to link to in another post in the near future. We’ll see how that goes. Anyways, on to the subject matter…
I had planned on voting in the 2008 presidential election. I registered in California when I moved here, and voted in the primary. I had intended on voting for Obama. I had my local voting location all determined and everything. Then I had to schedule a last minute trip to China for work. I looked into my options. I still could have voted by mail, I think. But there was an even better solution I thought, to vote early at the county court house in San Jose. They were doing it the weekend before election day.
I drove down there on that rainy Saturday (I was flying out Sunday.) And there were thousands of people there. No exaggeration. You had to fill out a card and take a number. After standing around for a few minutes and watching the numbers go, I estimated it would have been a few hours before I could vote. Since my mother was visiting from the East coast, I thought it was not efficient use of my time for her and Stacy to wait in the car, while I sat and waited to vote.
I should say that I was able to make that determination solely due to the electoral college system as well. While I think it is important to vote, I don’t think the Obama carrying the state of California was ever really in question.