Election Day

Yesterday was the Pennyslvania primary, and although I am not a very political person I vote, mostly because DH strongly encourages me to do so.  So I went, even though I did not feel particularly strongly about any of the candidates, and fortunately there were no long lines (during the presidential election I had to wait in line for over an hour.) 

I have a couple of gripes with the voting process though.  I'm not sure if this is how it is at all districts, or just mine. 

First of all, when you walk in the door they say, "Are you a Democrat or a Republican?" to which you need to respond out loud.  In a district where the Republican's greatly outnumber the Democrats, I feel like I get dirty looks when I'm forced to say "Democrat," so that they can pull my voter card out of the appropriate. 

Secondly, I changed my name a year and a half ago, and they STILL have my voter registration under my maiden name.  The woman at the polling place did not seem to be surprised. She said, "Oh, a year and a half? That's not enough time..." as if it should have been obvious to me that I would still be listed under my maiden name.  How can government offices be so bad at what they do?

Thirdly, I feel like the voting area needs to allow for more confidentiality.  Again, things might be different at other places, but I remember back in the day when they had the old school voting booths, they had a curtain that you closed while you were voting.  You could at least take your time and not feel pressured to hurry through.  But now, with the electronic voting machines (which I think overall are a GREAT improvement) they're just little screens on wheels, placed basically side by side to each.  While voting, I have to stand facing the line of people waiting, and it seems like they're just STARING at me... probably because they heard I'm a Democrat, right?  And then, when the guy next to me was done voting he walked right behind me and they brought the next person right behind me as well.  I know that it's not a test or anything, and that it's not like there's any cheating going on, but I had to fight the urge to "cover my paper" while they were walking by.  Voting is supposed to be personal, right?  Should they really be taking people behind me where they have full view of my screen?

So that's my beef with the voting process.  In general, I think the whole election process is a little bizarre, and I do believe that the candidates that have the most money are more likely to get elected, which isn't really how it's supposed to work.  But I'm pretty sure I'll keep voting, as long as DH keeps telling me who to vote for.

Perhaps I should send these gripes on to my elected officials?