If you can't vote right, you shouldn't count!

Many of you are already aware of the Senate contest in Minnesota which resulted in a very close race. For those of you in places far away from Minnesota I'll give you a brief rundown. Incumbant Senator and Republican Norm Coleman finished on election day with only a few hundred votes more than his Democratic challenger and former Saturday Night Live actor Al Franken. This triggered an automatic recount of the 2.9 million votes cast by Minnesotans on election day. With the balance of power in congress at stake lawyers from each party descended on Minnesota to ensure the recount was performed to their satisfaction in each district. The result has been a pretty remarkable and idiotic display of democracy with thousands of ballots being challenged by each side and numerous questions of voting procedures brought to the forefront. How close is this race? As of today Coleman unofficially leads by 2 votes with many more to be analyzed and debated over. That's just insane, 2 votes differentiate these two clowns after 2.9 million were cast. One may ask, what's so hard about counting a bunch of ballots and determining who won. The answer to that question rests in the hands of court officials now but the examples of improper votes has been ridiculous if nothing else. The ballot one fills out is much like a multiple choice test. You simply fill in the box next to the name of the candidate you support. If you want you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for. Some examples:

• A voter filled in a box for Franken but added to the end of his name -stin....so it said Al Frankenstin. This is funny. But should we allow a vote to be counted if someone is so ridiculous as to make a mockery of the ballot? The argument in court was that the individual did not vote for Franken, but someone named Frankenstin.
• A voter filled in a box for Franken but had written on various parts of the ballot Flying Spagetti Monstor or FSM....what the hell does that mean and who in their right mind would think that this is an acceptable means to fill out a ballot? The vote went to Franken.

Now I voted for one of these two people. I won't reveal who but want to make something known. Voting is a privilege not a right. Much like a drivers license is a privilege. You need to be able to do certain things in order to drive and you should have to be able to do certain things to vote. Disagree with this perspective? Then why don't we let kids vote? Why have any rules, regulations, or procedures at all? Why not simply have people go to any voting station and simply fill in a ballot and cross their name off a list, or mail them the ballots like they mail tax returns?

Voting is a serious activity. The results determine who we become as a society and to know that a person who feels their ballot is a good place to write things like Flying Spaghetti Monster determines how collective fate makes democracy a joke.