Ohio Primary Day Fiasco, Ron Paul Revolution Update
 Monday, March 10th, 2008

My trip to vote in the March 4th Ohio Primary was eventful, all right:  my world was covered in thick slabs of ice that I had to punch my way through, in a trip just minutes away that took me the better part of a day (and evening!).  Only to arrive and be made to hide my Ron Paul shirt, vote provisional, and leave utterly disappointed.

The ballot I'd waited over a year to place - the solitary slip of paper I'm owed in the 2008 primaries - for Republican candidate and Congressman Ron Paul, whom I've followed since before he announced his entry into the presidential race, was a vote I won't soon forget.

Here is my trip, narrated with all of the frustration I felt.  Since I've placed that vote (which won't be counted until April, if at all), Senator John McCain has proclaimed his alleged victory in delegates for the Republican nomination, backed by all of the weight (or lack thereof) of the GOP and President George W. Bush himself.

Though voting in Ohio this year was a most unenjoyable event for me, the truth, as we all know, isn't always a blast.  Despite the numerous problems I, and many others I know, suffered through on March 4th in the Buckeye state, election officials claim problems were few and far between, and nothing compared to Ohio voting disasters in the past.

I beg to differ. This is somewhat captured in the strange lip curl sneer and drowned rat appearance below after I emerged from the sleet storm, which Google Video kindly managed to land on as the default image that summarizes the video.

I'm still satisfied, though, with my efforts on that awful day:  and in November, I will likely take a pen to my paper ballot and write in a name that I can be proud to tell my children and grandchildren of.

Whether it is going to count or not still remains to be seen.

I called the Board of Elections to find out if I had to verify my identity in order to validate my provisional vote, as some people have to (some need only to call in).  I was told that my vote "should" count, but to call back on May 14th and ask again.

This is how difficult it was for Ohio voters this year:  first of all, a person had to brave the extremely dangerous weather just to get there (and three precincts moved their polling locations due to flooding in certain areas).  Secondly, some were literally turned way and sent to other precincts or asked to come back because there were districts that ran out of Democratic ballots entirely.

Though U.S. Judge Solomon Oliver extended the voting hours in 21 precincts due to the ballot shortage report by Barack Obama's attorneys, the announcement came after the polls had already closed; and according to Jennifer Brunner - the Ohio Secretary of State - less than half of those precincts were able to reopen.

The encouraging news is just how many voters showed up in Ohio this year, despite the weather.  According to the Secretary of State's office, Ohio set a record for voter turnout statewide with nearly 45% in the unofficial count, which has yet to include many provisional and overseas military ballots (and mine).  And the number of absentee ballots were more than triple those from last year's primary.

Since my trip to the polls, Ron Paul has published this encouraging message to supporters.  In the video campaign update, he acknowledges that "Though victory in the conventional political sense is not available in the Presidential race," he will continue to campaign in all of the remaining states where he has supporters, work to obtain new delegates and precinct leaders, and plans to attend the proposed June 21st, 2008 March On Washington (as do we - hope to see you there!).

"We must remember, elections are short-term efforts," Paul said.  "Revolutions are long term projects."

I also found this campaign update, written by Rand Paul, MD, to be humorously on point:  "Reports that Ron Paul has quit the Presidential race remind me of Mark Twain's famous 'Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.'"

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