I voted in Arizona last week, the first election I voted anywhere but California. Being so used to one system made it strange to experience how others handle the same event.

Early Voting

        In California you either vote absentee or show up on election day. In Arizona you have the option of voting early, even a month before the election. One result of this is that there are multiple ballots at a single location. When you vote on election day you go to a place within your precinct which has only the ballots relevant to that precinct. Not so with early voting. With early voting all the voters in this city went to the county offices, therefore every precinct's ballot had to be present at that one location. You walk in, a woman looks you up in the computer, tells another woman which precinct number you belong to, and begins printing a label. The second woman gets the appropriate ballot and the freshly printed label and hands it to a third woman.

Not An Anonymous Ballot

        She then hands the ballot and label to a third woman, who sticks the label on an envelope which you sign. The label had my name and address on it. Since this is the envelope my ballot will eventually be going into it means -- for at least a while -- my vote isn't anonymous. I'm not sure I like that. I don't know whether that is the system for all voters or just those voting early. In California the only time your ballot gets stuck in an envelope is if there is cause to make it provisional.

        (Update: The local talk-radio program is discussing how ballots are handled. Apparently non-early voters take their ballot back to the table where it is fed into a machine which electronically tallies the vote then shreds the ballot. I definitely would not care for that! A phone in caller said he voted early but was handed the envelope to mail in, like an absentee ballot. Hmm. I wonder what happened to my early ballot? If those innocent looking little old ladies hadn't also taken and kept my Democratic mother's ballot I might start imagining they were actually DNC operatives! )

No Chads Here

        Step up to a booth with your new ballot. When I left California they were still using punch cards. Nevada has gone electronic, and Arizona? Arizona uses felt tip pens! The ballot is a large sheet of paper with circles next to the candidates' names and the yes/no's for propositions. You vote by taking a felt tip pen and filling in the circle of your choice. I wondered how accurately I had to stay within the lines. If my circle ended up looking like Mickey Mouse would my vote not count? Or would they be thawing out Walt for that day he's long awaited? "Mr. Disney! You've been elected in Arizona!"

Meet your Electors

        Underneath the presidential candidates' names were listed the names of the electors who will vote for Arizona should that candidate be selected. These are the people for whom you are actually voting. In California they remain nameless and unseen.

Will the Real Incumbent Please Stand Up?

        In California a candidate's occupation appears next to their name, with the incumbent so marked. Nothing like that in Arizona, just the candidate's name. You either know who these people are or you don't. I wonder if that is an attempt to lessen the incumbent advantage?

        Despite feeling odd, the process was smooth, quick and easy -- far more so than I've ever seen in California (and I worked for many years as an election official).