Did you VOTE?

[DWARREN123]

Just asking, I do not care who you voted for but we all need to exercise our right whenever possible.

I voted, I always do. I did not always vote but it has become very important to me as I have gotten older.

[Mike.357]

I always vote too.

This was the first election in a long time where I feel my vote was heard.

Here in Knox County a bunch of bums are getting tossed out!! The bums who did not get tossed were mainly running unopposed in the primary and I am hopeful they will get wacked in the general election.

This presidential election is downright scary.

[saintsfanbrian]

I did not vote in the Primary. In this area my vote doesn't count for local elections. I am not in the right demographic.

That being said, I also don't give a rats butt who gets put up for the Presidency anymore. The people that I wanted have dropped out (person) so I will hold my nose and vote for the republican when the general election hits.

[creeky]

I voted. (And so did my wife.)

[Guest jcoyle6]

I make it a point to participate, I voted.

[Guest Fuel]

I voted. Took my 11 year old son down to the polls so he could see how it works. Explaining politics to an 11 year old is tough.

[Guest EasilyObsessed]

I wasnt able to I missed the Jan 8th (IIRC) deadline to change my voter registration to Nashville from Cookeville. No chance to drive out to Cookeville so I didnt get to vote in the primaries.

You would think that changing your address on your license would also change your voter registration...

[Guest ACMM]

I voted, it went very smoothly. I think I was 6th in line when they opened.

[Marswolf]

I always vote.

[The Rabbi]

I didn't.

If I did, I would have voted for Obama, not because I think he's a prize ("that Obama's a piece of sh*t and I told him to suck on my machine gun") but because he will be a weaker candidate than Hillary.

But in the end I just couldn't muster enough enthusiasm to pull the lever for him.

[Mike.357]

I was pretty much raised to believe that if you are of age, legal to vote and you don't vote then you have no right to complain about what happens.

There have been times when I was so unenthused by candidates that I skipped part of the ballot and left it blank. But a cast blank ballot is still a vote in my opinion. At least it lets them know your disgust at the available candidates. I suppose not voting might give the same impression but like I said I was raised to go and cast a ballot.

[Guest db99wj]

No. I had every intention of doing so after work , like I always do, it is on the way home from work. But due to the weather and my wife and 4 scared children at home, I chose to go home.

[Guest nj.piney]

we have electronic voting, its hard to turn the dials and push the buttons while holding your nose,but i managed

[Guest Spuds]

I usually early vote, but forgot this time. I was in line for an hour, that'll teach me to pay attention to the early voting period in the future.

Couldn't muster up any reason to vote for any GOP candidate, so I ticked the "Demoncrat" box and voted in their primary against the great Satanette. If it weren't for open primaries, I'd have probably just skipped it altogether.

[Guest dotsun]

I voted as I always do.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

I voted in the early primaries

[Guest Len]

Yep. As they say "vote early and vote often!"

[analog_kidd]

I also voted in the primaries. I try to vote any time the polls are open.

What was the deal with voting for all the delagates this time? I can't remember ever having to do that before.

Not sure how it is in your county, but here in Anderson County we had to select our presidential hopeful, and then 12 delegates to represent them. I had never heard of any of these people before. I also had not seen printed anywhere that this is how we were voting. I like to think that I am a pretty well informed voter, I always research any issues and try to make an intellegent choice, but I got to say this blind-sided me.

Some candidates didn't even have 12 delegates to pick from, so you had to pick extras that claimed to support a different candidate.

[et45]

I registered to vote in 92 and have not missed one yet.

[Marswolf]

I think the deal is that we choose a candidate and the delegates. When they go to the convention, they vote until the party nominates someone. But I think party rules, or maybe state law is that they have to vote for the candidate the voters selected for the first two voting rounds. After that, they decide who they want to vote for.

[Marswolf]

Here is a very good summary page of how the delegate selection process works and the current results.

http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/states/TN.html

Note that the delegate selection process is not finished, and that the voters do not select all of the delegates. Note that the politicians reserve a fair number of delegate votes that they alone select.

During the Feb. 5 primary, 39 delegates are elected, 27 of them as Congressional-district delegates and 12 of them as statewide delegates. If a presidential candidate gets two-thirds of the vote statewide and two-thirds of the vote in all congressional districts, that candidate will get all the state’s delegates. If no candidate gets two-thirds of the vote, delegates are distributed proportionally. Other allocation formulas apply for candidates who get half the votes statewide and for situations where no candidate gets two-thirds of the vote within a congressional district. The state executive committee selects 13 pledged delegates at a meeting April 5. Three unpledged delegates are selected automatically from among party leaders.

[Guest tokarev]

I voted (stood in line for over an hour!) only because I figure that gives me the right to bitch about anyone who got elected.

Don't ask who, I'll deny voting for any of them!

[Guest TNDixieGirl]

Actually, whether you vote or not, you still have the same right as everyone else to bitch when you want to. It's that freedom of speech thingie.

[DWARREN123]

Rant coming on!

I think the election process somehow violates me. Why not vote for the candidate and the one with the most votes wins. Why have delegates and all the other extranious BS, just one person equals one vote and the canddidate with the most votes wins.

RANT OFF!

[Guest TNDixieGirl]

DWARREN, I've wondered that same thing for years. This whole system stinks, in my opinion only. But people keep insisting it's for the best. But I still don't see how.