Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Early Voting In Texas...

Early voting in Texas is about to drive me crazy.  Who came up with this idea anyway?

First of all, I don't trust it.  There's too much time for funny business.  Anyone want to vote for a dead person?  I'm sure they'd say everything is closely monitored, blah, blah, blah, but I still think there's too much time involved and I'd rather see voting on one day.  If you know you can't vote on that particular day you can always vote absentee (although I'm not sure I like that any better than early voting for the same reason).

What's really driving me crazy is the "robo" calls.  Does anyone listen to them?  Don't most of us hang up within the first few seconds?  Actually, I don't particularly care for the real human being calls either.  I can't even begin to tell you how many calls I've received in the last couple of weeks.

I'm on the Texas Do Not Call List and the National Do Not Call List.  I do not miss the numerous calls I used to receive from people selling siding, a new roof, etc.  The Do Not Call Lists were a wonderful idea and enacted into law because people were sick and tired of running to the phone (especially at dinner time) only to find someone (often rude) determined to sell you something and unwilling to take no for an answer.

The laws were a great idea, but guess who writes the laws?  Yes, politicians write and enact the laws and in their infinite wisdom they decided to exclude themselves.  That means come election time (and especially early voting time) they can harass us with their annoying calls.

This practice transcends all political followings and beliefs.  I've received calls from (or on behalf) of Republicans, Democrats, and even an Independent candidate.  To me it's indicitive of an attitude that many running for political office seem to posess.  It says to me, I'm so important I don't have to respect or honor a law that was made for the little people. 

It's a matter of respect...or lack of respect for the people that vote.  I cannot figure out a way to stop it.  A couple of years ago I E-mail both the county Republican and Democratic parties and asked to be taken off their calling lists.  I never received a reply from either party.

When a real human being calls I tell them that I don't want to be called and to remove my name from their list.  Often they immediately tell me that the Do Not Call Lists don't apply to them.  I know that and I'm merely asking them to respect my wishes if they want my vote. 

Perhaps I should run for political office?  I'll be the candidate that promises to respect the spirit of The Do Not Call List and not bother anyone with phone calls.  I think with so many people no longer having land lines the ones that still do receive all the calls.  I'm sure the phone lists are made up by using home addresses on the voter registration list and finding the phone listings.  It probably wouldn't happen as much with an unlisted number or a cell phone.  If I wasn't a registered voter I wouldn't receive calls either.

It's not fair.  I want to keep my land line and I want to vote.  With everything that's going on in our lives right now I can't ignore the phone.  So, I continue to run when it rings.  Election day can't come soon enough.

4 comments:

  1. I was at my sister's house the other day and the phone rang. It was a political call. She said that they get them all the time. I just got my first one yesterday! I will say that it is this time of year that I'm glad that I have a cd player in my truck so I can listen to music when I'm driving instead of all of these campaign ads. I'm so tired of listening to them too! Television isn't any better. I think I am going to put a dvd in because I'm tired of watching the ads on tv!

    Right now in West Virginia a major Senate seat is open for grabs. Our Governor is running and a man who they keep saying his family lives in Florida is running. I love our Governor and he is a true West Virginian through and through. I'll say that the ads they have been running against him gave me second thoughts but when it comes down to it I know that he will always fight for us and I'd love to see him run for President!

    Don't forget to vote! hehehe

    Angela

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are so right, Betty. I absolutely hate getting unwanted calls. There was a time that I got a daily call from someplace for about a year. I never answered, it never stopped arriving each and every day. Horrible.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, Betty, I agree with you 100%. Nov. 2, can't get here soon enough! I haven't had the troublesome calls because we monitor our calls with caller ID, but the mudslinging is too much! My state, AZ, has been in the national spotlight because of SB 1070 (the illegal alien thing) and our governor, Jan Brewer, has taken a beating from the politicos in D.C. because of her stance on illegal immigration. Heck, the poor woman has been hammered by local government officials as well. It will be interesting to see what happens nationally, but I can't wait to see what happens in AZ.
    As far as the early voting goes, I feel as you do...can it be trusted? The phrase...vote early, vote often...comes to mind!!!! I just heard on the news that over 200 early ballots had the same address (a vacant lot)on them! Hmmm something's wrong somewhere!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is this an election year? I wondered why all those people were calling me.

    ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to visit my little world and leave a comment. I appreciate hearing from you.

I do not receive all comments by E-mail and I'm not exactly sure why. I do try and remember to check the actual blog so I won't miss any of your comments.

I do not belong to Google+ and regret that I am unable to leave comments on Google+ blogs.

WORD VERIFICATION: I have NOT set up word verification for comments. However, every so often it appears on my blog even though I have chosen NO in the settings. Please let me know if you encounter word verification when leaving a comment so I can try and fix it. Thanks.