It's the voting season and some people are choosing to vote early and some will wait until Election Day.  However, here's something you should be aware of when you vote.

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I decided today was the day to go and vote.  I hopped in my car and drove to my polling location.  I walked in, luckily there wasn't a line, and handed my ID over. The volunteer scanned my ID and then handed me a stylus.   I checked my information made sure it was correct, hit accepted, and signed with the stylus.  I went to hand it back and he asked me to be sure to hang onto the stylus.  My information receipt was printed off and off I went.

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Getty Images
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I walked into the voting room, handed over my receipt, and here is where it gets weird.  The lady scanned my info and handed me my access code and paper which was thick card stock with a giant arrow on it.  She said there would be instructions on the voting machine.

I got to the voting machine put my code in and it told me to insert the sheet into the machine.  I did, and then I started voting.  The stylus came in handy when choosing my candidate picks.  Once I finished voting.  I clicked finished and it printed out my ballot on that thick card stock.

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twinsterphoto
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I took my printed ballot towards the exit, where another nice lady who was volunteering, told me to insert my ballot into another machine, and when I saw the American flag I was done.  So I walked over to that machine and inserted my ballot into the machine and it took it, scanned it, and kept the paper that had my printed choices on it.

All in all, I thought this was weird. It freaked me out a bit.  I don't know if this was a new way of checks and balances, or if it's just an easier and new way of doing things.  I know that there is now a paper copy of my choices and an electronic version of my choices.  It did make me feel somewhat uncomfortable.  I looked at a lady who just voted as we walked out the exit and said "well that was weird," and she agreed.

Yes, the new voting system made me uncomfortable, but something else that wasn't comforting was voting wasn't very private.  Depending on where you were in the room, you could look over and see who people were voting for.

I asked several people about the new voting machines after I got back to work and the consensus was it was weird and wasn't liked at all.

If you haven't voted yet, just know that when you vote, early voting or on election day, Tuesday, November 8th, you will be voting using this new system.

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