drive thru voting
Thursday, 23. October 2008, 18:03:37
There are moments in life where you find yourself asking "Why?". Perhaps there are some other moments you keep asking "WTF?".
Well, today I had such a moment again while watching the news on TV. If you ask yourself why I started laughing, just read on and start wondering...
SoCal voters cast ballots in drive-through style
By AMY TAXIN, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 21, 5:21 am ET
SANTA ANA, Calif. – There were no burgers, car washes or lattes at this Orange County drive-through — just democracy.
Eager voters pulled their vehicles into the county registrar's parking lot on Monday to either register or cast ballots at an electronic drive-through poll station.
The one-day-only offer came on the last day of voter registration for Californians. Only Orange County was offering the drive-through electronic voting service.
Some registrar offices across the state held late-night hours and set up drop boxes to receive voter registration forms before the midnight deadline.
Orange County Registrar Neal Kelley noted that voter registration is up 15 percent in Orange County from four years ago, and the electronic early voting was a chance to lessen the crowds next month.
"I know it is going to be busy as heck," he said of Election Day. "We're preparing for heavy turnout."
Although Kelley said he believes the drive-through is the first one to use electronic voting, the concept of casting ballots from a driver's seat is not new to California or the nation.
Sonoma County, for example, has long had a drive-up window where voters can drop paper ballots. A town in Vermont offered the same opportunity in 2006.
In Riverside County, voters can cast ballots this month from a roving "votemobile" that is traveling across the area.
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kronline.atOnly in America: Drive-through voting
Oct 21, 2008, 17:59 GMT
Los Angeles - With the oldest ever candidate and the first black nominee the upcoming US election already has a lot of firsts. Now add another: drive-through voting.
For a few hours Tuesday night voters in car-crazy Orange County can perform their civic duty without leaving the comfort of their automobiles at eight electronic booths set up in a southern Californian parking lot. The booths are also available for voters to register on the last permitted day before the November 4 election.
The Los Angeles Times quoted Neal Kelley, the local registrar of voters, as saying that 'as far as he knows the setup is the first of its kind.'
The special drive-through voting booths were originally designed for disabled voters. They are lower than regular voting booths making them the perfect height for drivers to use through their open car windows.
Kelley said his office had been inundated with calls about the drive-through voting system, predicting that the number of last day registrations would triple the 1,200 people who registered on the last possible day prior to the 2004 election.
'I didn't think it would catch on,' Kelley said. 'It seems to have hit a chord with people ... they like the convenience factor.'
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