Voting

Today is voting day in the states. I'm here in The Netherlands (where elections will be held in a few weeks) but I still voted by absentee ballot. Due to a silly mistake (the return address label was affixed upside-down when I got it) the ballot was returned to me. I sent it in the mail again, so hopefully it will reach Harris county by the deadline for overseas ballots.

Some observations while voting this year:

* Some libertarian, pre-med, biochem student at Rice is running for state representative. Rice students, go figure.
* A whole heck of a lot of Republicans are running unapposed for a bunch of offices in my district. One would think that a Dem or Independent could at least try...
* Props to the League of Women's Voters for putting out a handy guide to the election. Its amazing how many names are on the ballot that I have never heard of. I have to say, its no wonder so few people vote. Too many people I don't know anything about, its hard to give them my vote (of confidence) if I've never heard of them.
* A more negative note: Sometimes I feel like my dollar is more powerful than my vote. That is, by contributing money to a candidate's campaign or party, I'm more likely to help him/her get elected than by voting for them. That's not the way it should be.