Tuesday, November 6, 2012, I voted for the first time in an election whose
results are not likely to be rejected by the unfortunate candidate. For a
Mauritanian who has never had such an experience in his life even if he
approaches his fifties, the event was historic. That day, I wake up a little
earlier than usual and before going about the daily routine of a metropolitan
job, I took my voter card, which I received by mail few weeks earlier, and
headed to the nearest High School where the pool are taking place. As this was
my first vote in an American election, I was a little anxious, out of for fear
of one of those errors that prevent the vote from being counted. Sudden
thoughts of stripping ballots during the 2009 presidential election in Washington where I
represented the candidate Mes'ud Wul Bulkhayr and the relatively high number of
ballots rejected for non-compliance with established procedures, especially
among the votes for Ahmed Wul Daddah which are supposed to take the election seriously,
reminded me of such possibility. As the election is very competitive in Virginia, my first vote
has to count.
When I get to the high school, I was greeted at the door by two people who were distributing leaflets, as, unlike Mauritania, the campaign in the United States stops only when the results are announced. One of the two people offered me a yellow paper prepared by the campaign of the Democratic Party, which explains the voting procedure and provides the names of its candidates. I took it because I intend to vote for their candidates. In the United States of America, all elections whether federal, State, or local, occur at the same place and on the same day, the Tuesday following the first Monday of November, throughout the U.S. territory. So I had to vote, not only for the President, but also a senator and a member of the House, as well as answer yes or no to four referendum questions, three of them concern the local level, Fairfax County, and one is an amendment of the Constitution of Virginia, the state where I call home. As I intend to vote for Democratic candidates, the paper gives me their names and the party’s opinion on the referendum questions.
This is an opportunity to point out the influence of bipartisanship on the American political system. It is rare indeed that Independents force their way in a country where politics is not at the center of citizens’ concerns and where it takes a lot of money and a powerful political machine to win elections. Like me, many Americans will vote for the candidate of a party without necessarily reading their program and inquire about what he/she thinks unless he/she does something stupid in the media that makes him/her infamous. Many candidates have learned it the hard way this year, especially in the Republican camp on issues of abortion and women's rights.
When I enter the building, I appreciated the warmth of the place, an icy wind make the outside particularly cold. But the line was already long. High School students were taking advantage, selling coffee for a dollar a cup. I took one cup to warm up and began to read the yellow paper that locates the names of my preferred candidates on the ballot. The line moved slowly and it took more than three quarters of an hour, largely enough to read the latest issue of Time magazine that I brought with me and mostly devoted to the election. Finally, I came at the door of the room where the vote is taking place. I recognized the gymnasium, which I visited, a year ago, to assist to the teacher-parents conference, my daughter Fatima being a student at the school.
Before entering the room, a lady came to show us a chart on the billboard on my right explaining the voting process and to remind us of presenting an ID card. As I had my voter card in hand, I took out my driver license but the lady hastened to tell me that the voter card is enough, even though it does not have my photo. The Pavlov instinct helping, I instantly thought of fraud’s possibilities that the GOP (Republican Party) often cites to justify its requests for strengthened controls on voting. But, independent investigations have never established a significant level of fraud in American elections that would justify a change in procedures that, it must be acknowledged, are simple and without these bunches of controls well known to us in Mauritania. This is the benefit of trust, I said to myself.
I enter the room with few people. Five members of the Independent Electoral Commission which oversees elections were in face of us, using computers to verify the identity of voters. As soon as my turn comes, one of them makes me sign to come forward. I handed her my voter registration card that she verifies by typing my name on the keyboard. She asked me to tell her my name and address, which I promptly did. That's all it takes to verify my identity. She then asks me if I want to vote manually or electronically. I choose the first method which in my mind will disappear sooner or later as the intelligent machine extends its field of human activity. She showed me a table, two or three meters far to the left, on which are placed yellow folders containing the ballot. I take one and head to the opposite side of the gymnasium, to the voting booth. In fact, it is not strictly speaking a booth but a few desks arranged with chairs on which voters sit the check the needed boxes on the ballot. The discretion of the vote is carried out by small cubic boxes placed on the tables. I took one of the pens placed on the table and check the following: Obama for President, Kaine for Senator, Moran for the member of the House, and for the referendum questions, I vote for the Democratic platform indicated in the yellow paper, which I still had in hand.
I let my ballot slip in the ballot-box and the lady in charge congratulated me for having accomplished my civic duty while handing me a sticker which says "I voted" on a U.S. flag background U.S. and showing me the way out. I put the sticker on my shirt immediately and headed for the workplace. When I arrived at the office, the guard posted at the entrance - a safety routine in America since September 2001 – congratulated me at the sight of the sticker, proof that civic duty is taken seriously in this country, despite the low level of politicization of its citizens and the discredit of the political elite in the eyes of many.
In the evening, I find myself with Sidna, a Mauritanian American like me, who lives in the same area, to watch the election results. From the first hours, the mood was favorable to President Obama and the Democratic Party in general, mainly for reasons of demographic changes. New Americans, as Sidna and I, are increasing at a higher proportion of the total population, and vote in general for Democrats, perceived as more open and responsive to their concerns. Around 23h to 30, most of the results were known. President Obama is elected for a second term, the Democratic Party strengthened its majority in the Senate, but the Republicans have retained control of the House of Representatives. Mitt Romney, the unfortunate Republican candidate, congratulated the re-elected President, as it is the tradition in this country, where after an election campaign, where all shots are allowed, the nation must reunite.
President Obama will be in charge for the next four years, unless prevented by illness, death, or decision of Parliament for high treason or obstruction to justice, all of them highly improbable. Generals of the most powerful army in the world will be under his command and none of them will think of making a coup d’état - this never happened after more than two centuries after the oldest written constitution in the world was promulgated.
When I get to the high school, I was greeted at the door by two people who were distributing leaflets, as, unlike Mauritania, the campaign in the United States stops only when the results are announced. One of the two people offered me a yellow paper prepared by the campaign of the Democratic Party, which explains the voting procedure and provides the names of its candidates. I took it because I intend to vote for their candidates. In the United States of America, all elections whether federal, State, or local, occur at the same place and on the same day, the Tuesday following the first Monday of November, throughout the U.S. territory. So I had to vote, not only for the President, but also a senator and a member of the House, as well as answer yes or no to four referendum questions, three of them concern the local level, Fairfax County, and one is an amendment of the Constitution of Virginia, the state where I call home. As I intend to vote for Democratic candidates, the paper gives me their names and the party’s opinion on the referendum questions.
This is an opportunity to point out the influence of bipartisanship on the American political system. It is rare indeed that Independents force their way in a country where politics is not at the center of citizens’ concerns and where it takes a lot of money and a powerful political machine to win elections. Like me, many Americans will vote for the candidate of a party without necessarily reading their program and inquire about what he/she thinks unless he/she does something stupid in the media that makes him/her infamous. Many candidates have learned it the hard way this year, especially in the Republican camp on issues of abortion and women's rights.
When I enter the building, I appreciated the warmth of the place, an icy wind make the outside particularly cold. But the line was already long. High School students were taking advantage, selling coffee for a dollar a cup. I took one cup to warm up and began to read the yellow paper that locates the names of my preferred candidates on the ballot. The line moved slowly and it took more than three quarters of an hour, largely enough to read the latest issue of Time magazine that I brought with me and mostly devoted to the election. Finally, I came at the door of the room where the vote is taking place. I recognized the gymnasium, which I visited, a year ago, to assist to the teacher-parents conference, my daughter Fatima being a student at the school.
Before entering the room, a lady came to show us a chart on the billboard on my right explaining the voting process and to remind us of presenting an ID card. As I had my voter card in hand, I took out my driver license but the lady hastened to tell me that the voter card is enough, even though it does not have my photo. The Pavlov instinct helping, I instantly thought of fraud’s possibilities that the GOP (Republican Party) often cites to justify its requests for strengthened controls on voting. But, independent investigations have never established a significant level of fraud in American elections that would justify a change in procedures that, it must be acknowledged, are simple and without these bunches of controls well known to us in Mauritania. This is the benefit of trust, I said to myself.
I enter the room with few people. Five members of the Independent Electoral Commission which oversees elections were in face of us, using computers to verify the identity of voters. As soon as my turn comes, one of them makes me sign to come forward. I handed her my voter registration card that she verifies by typing my name on the keyboard. She asked me to tell her my name and address, which I promptly did. That's all it takes to verify my identity. She then asks me if I want to vote manually or electronically. I choose the first method which in my mind will disappear sooner or later as the intelligent machine extends its field of human activity. She showed me a table, two or three meters far to the left, on which are placed yellow folders containing the ballot. I take one and head to the opposite side of the gymnasium, to the voting booth. In fact, it is not strictly speaking a booth but a few desks arranged with chairs on which voters sit the check the needed boxes on the ballot. The discretion of the vote is carried out by small cubic boxes placed on the tables. I took one of the pens placed on the table and check the following: Obama for President, Kaine for Senator, Moran for the member of the House, and for the referendum questions, I vote for the Democratic platform indicated in the yellow paper, which I still had in hand.
I let my ballot slip in the ballot-box and the lady in charge congratulated me for having accomplished my civic duty while handing me a sticker which says "I voted" on a U.S. flag background U.S. and showing me the way out. I put the sticker on my shirt immediately and headed for the workplace. When I arrived at the office, the guard posted at the entrance - a safety routine in America since September 2001 – congratulated me at the sight of the sticker, proof that civic duty is taken seriously in this country, despite the low level of politicization of its citizens and the discredit of the political elite in the eyes of many.
In the evening, I find myself with Sidna, a Mauritanian American like me, who lives in the same area, to watch the election results. From the first hours, the mood was favorable to President Obama and the Democratic Party in general, mainly for reasons of demographic changes. New Americans, as Sidna and I, are increasing at a higher proportion of the total population, and vote in general for Democrats, perceived as more open and responsive to their concerns. Around 23h to 30, most of the results were known. President Obama is elected for a second term, the Democratic Party strengthened its majority in the Senate, but the Republicans have retained control of the House of Representatives. Mitt Romney, the unfortunate Republican candidate, congratulated the re-elected President, as it is the tradition in this country, where after an election campaign, where all shots are allowed, the nation must reunite.
President Obama will be in charge for the next four years, unless prevented by illness, death, or decision of Parliament for high treason or obstruction to justice, all of them highly improbable. Generals of the most powerful army in the world will be under his command and none of them will think of making a coup d’état - this never happened after more than two centuries after the oldest written constitution in the world was promulgated.
The President will not be, however, an absolute ruler. Congress will be
watching closely and can at will make his life miserable. The Constitution
of the United States of
America has established a clear separation
of executive, legislative and judicial system and a single mutual control,
check and balance, which allows each of the three powers of control over
others. Thus bills whose initiative and vote are the responsibility of Congress
can not be enacted into law without the consent of the President who must sign them
before becoming the laws of le land. Congress can in its turn paralyze the
President by refusing appropriations, including salaries of civil servants, and
senior appointments in the administration. Judges, in their part, are
irremovable and their judgments stems only from their conscience and their
interpretation of the Constitution. Judges are appointed by the President, but their
nomination must be approved by the Senate, as indeed for all senior positions
in the administration.
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