Voting and other stuff

I did not vote yesterday - I was very wise and voted last week. When the very nice lady handed me my paper ballot, I didn't really think much about it - after all, I was, in effect, voting absentee, and all absentee ballots are paper. I sort of missed the little computerized voting machine, with it's lights, and it's little 'ding' when you pull the lever, but I figured it was a small price to pay to not have to stand in line for HOURS. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I found out that EVERYONE had to use those paper ballots! Now, they're not bad - easily readable, instructions are easy to follow, just fill in the little oval, but - I want to know just when we took a giant step BACKWARDS into the dark ages????? How is filling out a paper ballot better than a computerized one? I've been pushing those little lighted buttons since I began voting, and I never once heard anything about hanging chads, or people being confused about how to push a button, or anything. I've lived in NM my enitre life (my time in purgatory is not counted), and it never ceases to amaze me how badly we, as a state, can screw things up. One of our ealy govenors was a man named Lew Wallace. You might have heard of him - he wrote Ben Hur. In a letter to his wife, he wrote:
"All calculations based on our experiences elsewhere fail in New Mexico."
It's known as the Curse of Lew Wallace - and let me tell you - if it can be screwed up, messed up or cursed, it can be done in NM. Its a cross we bear to live in such perfect (well, mostly perfect) weather.
We're used to it.
No new knitting - still have to wind the latest purchases into balls.