apcampbell

Earlier this week I sat down on my tatami floor here in Kyoto and voted for president. On the ballot were listed three offices: President, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Representative; each with candidates representing four parties: Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Constitutional. For any of you who follow American politics, you may recognize that all four of those parties fall to right of the political/economic scale, which according to my nascent understanding, generally means that they all advocate to varying degrees, a free-market liberalism benefitting large corporations and the wealthy. There was not a single political party represented on my Missouri ballot from the left of scale: no socialists, no greens, no communists, no labor, nothing! What kind of democracy exists in the U.S. when a voters choices are limited to right wing parties?

To make matters more confusing, I was required to sign an affidavit on the front of the ballot which required me to ‘check off one of the following descriptions’ as to my reasons for being abroad. Every single option listed claimed some kind of affiliation with the military or U.S. government. Below that was a warning that I would be guilty of perjury for providing any false information. As you may know, I am an educator working for several private universities, both in the U.S. and abroad. If I checked one of the options provided, I would be lying and my ballot would not be counted. If I failed to check one of the options, my affidavit would be incomplete and my ballot rendered void.

To solve this dilemma, I made a long distance phone call to the voting office in Missouri and explained my situation. They instructed me to find some blank space on the affidavit and write in a description of my reason for being abroad. The man on the phone assured me that such creative alteration of the official affidavit wouldn’t affect my vote being counted. Hmm…I wonder about that. Is scribbling one’s own handwriting in the margin of an official document acceptable? Why was the ballot designed this way? Why was there no space provided for people who fall into ‘other’ category. Why was there no option for teachers, researchers, travelers, entreprenuers, NGO workers, buisinesspeople, etc? Why did only government employees and their affiliates count on this ballot?

I am confused. Will my vote be counted?