For those of you so deprived (i.e. you don't live in Virginia or New Jersey), we have a gubernatorial election today.  Along with the Governor, Lt. Governor, and AG, we also get to elect all the members of the House of Delegates.  As races go, this one is BOOORRRIIIINNNGGGG.  But it is all we got (Side note to Gideon - Sorry, No Libertarian Candidate running or I was going to vote for him/her!).

But we will know the results soon enough. And this is not about the race per se, but the voting process.

I got there early today.  After having to wait 45 minutes last year, I got there when the polls opened and was #11 at the precinct to vote.  But what blew me away was that Henrico finally has got some new fangled voting machines!  The Touch screen ones!  I could not believe it!

I dont know how many versions out there there are, but this one was super simple to use, and we even had a test machine with a "Vanna White" showing anyone who wanted to know how to use it.  It was so simple!  It was simpler than simple!  It was almost downright foolproof!

You simply touched the candidate you wanted to vote for.  And then when you had finished voting, your choices were displayed so that you could see if you made any mistakes.  If you touched OK, then you got another screen where you had to touch a box that was about 6" x 4" with the word VOTE being the only thing in it.  You merely had to press "VOTE" and that was it!

Now for most of you who do not know, Henrico is a very wealthy county.  It has a good mixture of commercial and residential and the lowest tax rate of any bedroom community around Richmond.  For the most part, it is very Republican, and hence very fiscally conservative (except in the schools area).  SO money is not really a problem in county.  That it took them so long to get off punch cards was a surprise and disappointment to me.  But at last they have!

But the funny thing happened to my vote.  After voting for all democrats, the summary screen came up all republicans!  It must be those voting machines they used in Ohio last year! (just Kidding!)

Welcome to the 21st century Henrico County!  It is about damn time!