u235

taken from a comment on a previous post...

Honestly, the entire primary system is pretty damn unfair to the voters. The debates are decided by the 2 main parties, the system is designed to keep out 3rd parties, the super delegates (on the dems side) are a throwback to shady back room politics, and most of the country is forced to live by the choices of the first couple primaries. Think of how many candidates have dropped out already without ever giving the rest of the country a chance to support them.

I noticed this year when there were a frenzy of early primaries and wrangling over election dates. I can understand that states want to grab some of this attention, and the associated money. I can't help, however, to think back to the whole Gore/Bush election where the last states to report were the ones that held our focus, and breath.

Admittedly I can't recall any time where the last states to vote really served as a 'tie breaker' per se, but it doesn't mean it can't happen. On the other side should all the polls open in all states at the same time? Would that be more "fair"?

Perhaps as we move into a more electronic age that will be possible. Will we be able to vote from our computer someday? With improvements in security, fingerprint technology it might actually be more representative - but that opens so many avenues of discussion I can hardly begin to address them all.