Today, I voted early. Kudos to Maggie Toulouse for distributing numerous early voting sites. (Remember: You can vote at any location now and in the fall.) I was greeted at the door by one person who lead me to a clerk who asked me for information. He printed the application for early in-person voting, which I signed. Then, he printed my ballot, which he told me he was not allowed to touch, so I took it off the printer. Another person pointed me to the booths. I filled the short ballot. Another person pointed me to the machines that read ballots. I was the 60th person to use the 3rd machine; over 200 had used the first and 99 the second. That person said, “I want to see you again in the fall.” You bet. Finally, I was shown the door (in the nicest sense). The process was quick and easy.

My gripe? Filling in ovals with a pen. Seriously, I hate that laborious process, which is made worse by a rickety booth that oscillates with my efforts. Can’t I have an oval stamp – one press per race?

Better: Let me use a computer to make my selections, and then review them all before printing the completed ballot. I’m not talking about electronic voting. The entry computer would not create a record. I would still carry my ballot to the machine. No ballots would be rejected for improper completion – that would be eliminated.