2116 Incomplete Election

The recent election brought up some interesting things, not least that a potential run-off was possible between two candidates with less than a hundred vote difference between them.

What was especially odd was that the office they were running for was county auditor, which counts the votes, and that they were both election officials, and that one of them was currently the election official in charge of the vote count.

It really showed how crucial each vote is. Which led me to another observation. In looking at the results for the candidates, I noticed that if a candidate ran unopposed, they often got fewer votes. A contested race would get 32,000 votes for example, while an uncontested candidate would only garner 29,000. How did this happen?

There's only one thing to surmise, some people weren't voting for everything or everyone on their ballot. Some people weren't filling in every bubble. They were Lazy Bubble Non-filler-outers.

Oh, the shame.

I polled my workmates, who got a bit uncomfortable at that point. A word of caution; if, in fact, you poll your workmates, be gentle. 

They admitted to being less than conscientious about filling in every bubble, figuring that the uncontested guy was going to win anyhow, so why waste the effort. I understand, but for me it's an OCD challenge to fill in every oval perfectly and not color outside the lines. What was all that coloring book training in my youth for?

Here's the sad thing. If you don't vote for the uncontested person, a write-in candidate could emerge the victor.  So be warned -- don't be a lazy bubble non-filler-outer. If our next City Councilperson is Donald Duck it'll be your fault.

On second thought, maybe a loud-mouthed character that doesn't wear pants would be a refreshing change...

America, ya gotta love it.