Too Tired to Jump

OK.  So, I haven’t jumped.  Yet.

It is a cliché, of course, but the re-election of Obama has given me hope.   Hope enough not to start planning to leave the country.  But, my energy has not kept up with my hope. 

Maybe it’s the time of year.  The waning of the light, passing to solstice.  The time of pulling in and reflecting.  I barely want to leave the house if I don’t need to.  Yet I am asked to do many things.  I have been asked to take over as coordinator for the Pierce County election observers.  I have been asked to consider being PCO for the local Democrats. I have been asked to become involved in the Green Party.   The local chapter of Washington Public Campaigns is looking for a new chairperson.   Occupy Tacoma is having regular meetings now.   Via email alerts, I have been asked to go to meetings on amending the constitution, trying to stop the coal train from coming to Cherry Point and freeing Leonard Peltier.  I’ve been asked to sign petitions to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, fix the filibuster, stop indefinite detention, stop media consolidation and save the wolves.

Just writing it all down makes me tired.

I’ll think about it tomorrow….

This Friend Speaks My Mind

Starhawk says it much better than I can.  Please read.

http://starhawksblog.org/?p=768

Post-election Blues

I awoke to the election results, and gave a heavy sigh.  Part of me really wanted to jump off the ledge.  Now, I am committed to remaining, not only on the ledge, but maybe even moving back into the sweaty, frantic, crazed room filled with people desperately trying to save the Earth.

I realize I have been holding off on doing anything or making any decisions until after the election.  Well, here it is and it is time to decide.  Now what?  What do I put my limited time and energy toward?  What is important?

There are a lot of causes out there.  There are a lot of good things that need help.  What I need to examine is what is important to me.   Why do I engage in this struggle?   Why do I continue to beat my head against the wall?  Why don’t I go sit in a tree and learn to play the flute?

When I get right down to the nitty gritty, it isn’t because I am enthralled with the Democrats.  It isn’t because I ache for the suffering masses.   It isn’t the economy.  It isn’t even for freedom, whatever that might mean.  Freedom to do something, like travel?  Freedom from something, like religious oppression?  Not really.

I suppose, deep down, my biggest motivation to change things is a love for nature.  I was an avid reader in junior high school and I remember reading about the extinction of the passenger pigeon, the great auk and the dodo.  I remember feeling a deep pain in my heart when I thought of this and how it was done at the hands of men.  Yes, I mean men.  With guns.  Women weren’t allowed to participate, even if they wanted to. 

I remember reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, finally understanding the concept of connectedness and what our everyday actions do in the big picture.  And now, I understand that environmental protection is a political issue.  One person or even one city or state cannot protect itself.  The extent of pollution is one thing.  The consequence of global warming is another.   To really make a difference, it will require fast and concerted efforts by all nations to lower the CO₂ in the atmosphere.  And as we have seen in Rio, Kyoto and Copenhagen, this is not an easy thing to do.   Powerful corporate interests are protecting the continued use of fossil fuels.  Corporations are the ones that back the deniers of global warming or those who say it is not caused by human activity.  It is short-term profits that take precedence over the preservation of this planet, as we know it.  And the push is always for more.  More jobs, more manufacturing, more GDP.  More, more, more.

But the truth is that the planet will survive.  It will go on for several more billion years.  It is the human race that is in peril.  And in the short–term, meaning my lifetime, there will be great changes in the way we live.  We are already seeing record-setting temperatures and massive storm systems.   I saw a cartoon many years ago that showed Saturn with the rings in the form of a physician’s loupe.  He was looking at Earth and frowning.  He said, “Well, your Ice Age has cleared up, but now you have a bad case of people.”

So, maybe we do need to clear the petri dish we call home and knock back the infestation.  Maybe feeding and sheltering people is just prolonging the inevitable.  Maybe I will go sit in that tree and play the flute.  Might be a nicer place to hang out than on the ledge.

Voting in Pierce County

I dropped my ballot off at the election center last Monday, a week ahead of the election.  In the past, I would often wait until the last minute so that I could see if there was any more information coming out about any of the candidates or issues.  This time, I knew I wouldn’t be changing my mind.

I was already on my way to the election center to observe the counting of the ballots.  Pierce County is all mail-in paper ballots.  It is really good to observe the process.  I think everyone should sign up to do this at least once.  Where does your vote go?  How do you know it is counted?  The rub is that Pierce County only recognizes two political parties, so you have to say you are a Republican or a Democrat.  Independents need not apply.

This is what you will see if you are an election observer.

Ballots are brought in, either by mail for from the drop boxes, always by teams of two.   The ballots are placed in flat boxes and the flaps are removed, revealing the signature of the voter.  They are placed in the sorting machine that takes a picture of the envelope and signature.   The signatures go into a computer program to be recorded in the voter registration system.  This is how they know that my mother-in-law has voted in every election in the past 50 years.  They even have her name on a plaque in the election center.

The computerized signatures go to about a dozen signature verifiers, who sit at a computer and compare the signature on the envelope with the signature on file.   Signatures that do not match are flagged and receive a second review by a different verifier.   If a ballot is unsigned, the signature does not match, the wrong signer, a stamped signature, no signature on file or signed by Power of Attorney, then a letter is sent to that voter.  If there is no response, then an automated phone call is sent.  The voter must respond by the day prior to the certification, which is 21 days after Election Day.  This is one of the reasons to vote early. 

The sorter also separates the ballots into legislative districts.  (Quick quiz!  Does everyone know which Legislative district they are in?  Do you know your precinct number?  Who is your PCO?)  The unchallenged ballots are then sent in batches to human hands to be opened and separated from the secrecy envelope.   This step is important, since they don’t want anyone to see how a particular person voted.  Once they are separated, the person then opens the secrecy envelope and removes the ballot.  The stack of oath envelopes is zip tied together and archived.  Even the secrecy envelopes, with no distinguishing features, are zipped together and archived.  The length of time they are archived depends on if it is a Federal election.  Materials in Federal elections are archived for 22 months.  They save every scrap of evidence.

Once the ballots are in a nice pile, they are visually scanned by a human to see if there is anything that would not be read by the tabulating machine.   These are done in small batches of about 200, so that they can be easily retrieved if needed.  Any ballots with corrections, torn bits, Post-it notes, stray marks or write in candidates are sent to a reviewer to double check.  If there is something the machines can’t read, those ballots will be remade.  This is to insure voter intent.  For example, if a person circled a name rather than connecting the arrow, a new ballot would be made with the arrow drawn in at that spot.  This remake process is always done with two people in the room where the observers can watch.  A second team of two double checks the ballots to make sure they match.  About 7% of ballots need to be remade.  Any ballots that cannot be easily determined as to voter intent are sent to the canvassing board. 

Sometimes, the tabulating machine will spit out a ballot it is unable to read.  After trying once or twice more, that ballot is sent back to be remade.   They double check to make sure the number of ballots tabulated matches the number of ballots counted by humans.  Counted ballots are sealed and placed in a locked room. 

The Canvassing Board meets 21 days after the general election and consists of the County Auditor, the Prosecuting Attorney and the chair of the County Council.  They rule on questioned ballots and then certify the election.  This meeting is open to the public. 

This is what I know.  Well, I know some other stuff, but I signed a secrecy oath.