Silent elections
Today, there were local elections in my community for the community council.
And if you didn't know that, then you surely would not have known that if you were here either, because on a small moshav in the Golan Heights everyone knows everyone. So there was no need for election campaigning, no need for political debates, no gerrymandering, and even no need to show your ID before you voted.
All there was, was a little cardboard box to cast your vote into.
And of course there were also candidates - around 15 in all for five spots - who had to declare their candidacy, get this, by writing their name on the piece of paper that was taped onto the door of the local mini-market.
Save for the fact that I received an SMS regarding the results, it really reminded me of the time when I ran for class president back in the 4th grade. But my burning question is: what would have happened in the event that the wind blew the candidate list away?
6 comments:
Shmuel - You may be surprised to hear this but you don't need ID to vote in NY either. States that try to impose ID requirements are sued (apparently insuring a fair election is racist and unconstitutional). In fact, I may stop off on November 4th at PS # 5 and cast a ballot in your name --- chances are you would not have been there already.
Aryeh
Hmmm... Very interesting... they don't ask any questions? At the very least, I assume they ask you your name. Here nobody asked me a thing; I was just given a voting slip.
Oh, and those voting booths they have in NY state don't exist here - or at least not for community elections. When voting for the Knesset you go behind a booth, but yesterday, if anyone passed by they could've seen my ballot.
Yeah, they do ask your name and you have to sign the book. But do you think that 86 year old lady behind the counter could figure out if you were trying to pull something?
Of course Israel does not have the old voting machines that are standard in most parts of NY. Those machines are pre-war. And by war I mean World War ONE!!
Aryeh
Hey it might have been somewhat 'unsophisticated' but at least the election didn't result in the wastage of millions of dollars in ads and broken promises, and all the hulla balo that goes with US elections.
Australia is having a federal election in about 4 weeks and the advertising is just sickening.
Mr Bagel
Mr Bagel - have you ever been in Israel for national elections? You should see how much money they waste there. And if there's anywhere where promises are broken more....it's Israel unfortunately.
I love the small-town feel to places like that...where life is simple and people watch out for each other. I grew up in a place like that in the midwest, (Iowa). I miss it a bit. Also, I started a new blog attached to Jewish Pride and thought I'd invite you over for a visit. Let me know what you think!
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