Ted: “Hey Jed. Whatcha got there?”
Jed: “Its the 2018 CBA ballot for the annual election of the Board of Directors.”
Ted: “How many names are there on it?”
Jed: “Looks like ten. But at the bottom of the page it asks for up to eleven votes.”
Ted: “Well then, how does that work?”
Jed: “You can write-in a person’s name in the blank spot, and it counts as a vote for him or her.”
Ted: “Oh, I see. But what are you doing with your ballot, you haven’t voted for anybody?”
Jed: “Well I’m contemplating.”
Ted: “Contemplating what?”
Jed: “I’m contemplating whether or not to vote.”
Ted: “Why is that Jed?”
Jed: “I suppose I’m cynical about voting in elections. You know, say you vote for the president of the USA, and he or she gets a majority of the votes. But then the electoral college does the voting that actually counts, and then the person who doesn’t get the majority of the votes from the ordinary people wins the election.”
Ted: “Hold on Jed. It’s not that way with the CBA election for the board members. Whoever gets the plain old simple votes from the real voters gets to be on the CBA Board for one year.”
Jed: “Okay, I get it. That’s a good thing. But something else bothers me. This year there are ten people running, but you get eleven votes. So why the heck should I vote. Isn’t is a shoe-in? Isn’t that a waste of time, energy, paperwork, and postage stamps?”
Ted: “Not really Jed. You see, the election has to be official, has to comply with Bob’s Rules of Order, or something like that. The folks running for the board have to get so many votes to make their election valid. After all, this is America, the land of the free, but not the land of no bureaucracy. This whole voting thing every year for the CBA Board has to be official, on paper, verified, scrutinized, sanitized, sanctified, and notarized so that the board members will officially exist in time and space.”
Jed: “I see Ted. I get it. Pardon me for a minute of so will you?”
Ted: “Okay, but what the heck are you doing?”
Jed: “I’m voting. There, I’m done. It didn’t take long. I want to make sure I get this thing done. The other day I read that only 40% of the American people vote in the general election. Can’t believe everything you read, especially these days, but it’s sobering how many natural born Americans don’t vote at all. Especially when you consider what immigrants have to go through just to become an American Citizen, and then get the right to vote. Excuse me for 30 more seconds Ted, there’s one more thing I need to do before I put a stamp of this ballot I got in the CBA Bluegrass Breakdown newspaper for September, and get it in the mail to meet the voting deadline in October at the CBA Fall Campout in Lodi.”
Ted: “Okay Jed, but what are you doing now?”
Jed: “I’m, I’m just, hold on. There. I had to put in my write-in candidate. I wrote in Patrick Campbell, a fiddler from Petaluma, California. A fine fiddler indeed, in my opinion. He’s not on the ballot, but his candidate statement about why he is running for the board is in the September Breakdown newspaper. You can write-in any person you want, but that’s who I’m voting for as the eleventh candidate.”
Ted: “Wow Jed. You’ve really got me motivated to vote. Now let’s see, where did I put my September Bluegrass Breakdown with the ballot in it?”
