Written and Illustrated by Koriander Bullard Tuesday morning, my husband and I went to go vote at the Optimist Club. I had brought with me plenty of ID for the both of us, including my electric bill.
We were sent to the “Liberty Precinct” table, where an elderly lady looked mine and my husband's names up in a giant book, which has the name and address of every citizen in Laurel County listed. After loaning out my John Hancock, I stood beside the table and waited my turn to vote. I am despondent to say that my husband and I only made up five people inside the building at two o'clock, but I was assured that most of the county had voted earlier that morning, except for the veterans who mailed in a vote the week before. While this is a nice gesture, I was angry that more people were not lined up behind me, the way they usually are back in my hometown of Chicago. Am I really the only one who cares about the fate of my country? My husband John went to the giant, black tablet we are required to use for voting. He cracked a joke about the fact that he was raised in Florida, and talked about how embarrassed he was that his home state was the site of the “Dangling Chad” incident. Oh, how ominous we are before lunch. After John stepped to the side, it was my turn to vote. An elderly man jammed a cartridge into the tablet's slot, tapped a key code in, and waited for the screen to say “welcome” before I was able to vote. I looked at the giant, blue screen and it's white lettering, (ominous to those of us with computers) clicked on “Bernie Sanders” and hit “vote”. The machine asked me to review my vote. I was satisfied. I hit the green “Confirm Vote” button, and the screen thanked me before a reset. I went home and anxiously watched my phone, waiting for the result of the primary. And that was Tuesday, May 17th, 2016. Today is May 23rd, 2016. We still do not have the results. CNN initially stated that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were tied at 1700 votes a piece. One hour later, they erased 300 votes for Bernie, but kept the number stagnated for Hillary. They refuse to answer the question of where those 300 people just went. Bernie is satisfied to have at least tied with Hillary, while Hillary declared herself the winner via Twitter one hour before the polls closed. Thirty three counties in the state of Kentucky are reporting voter fraud. Pike County had all of it's votes ERASED. For those keeping score at home, that's roughly 17,000 people whose votes were wiped clean. More than half of the state is reporting they are STILL counting the votes from Tuesday, and therefore have not yet initiated a recount, though most counties are screaming for it. After the polls closed at 6pm Tuesday, officials were insisting the primaries ~ traditionally an open vote ~ was now a “closed” vote, open only to “certain” people. Every citizen in Kentucky is demanding a recount. And how is the Democratic Party handling this? By demanding that Bernie split his delegates with Hillary. Why? Now we all know that Kentucky is a corrupt state. In fact, since it's a “Commonwealth” it's legally considered to be it's own country almost, playing by it's own rules. Just last year, Governor Matt Bevin was sworn into office right after the word came out that the election was rigged. The state acknowledged publicly that voter fraud had taken place, but they declined to initiate a recount, though petitions online are swimming in signatures for it. But to not only rig the tablet machines, but to also suddenly declare this a “closed” vote right after people already voted is just plain sloppy. It's like the criminal responsible wants to be caught in the act. But why? Why go through the trouble of making it crystal clear you are rigging the election? Why make it so obvious, unless this is to distract us from an ever worse problem down the road? Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have both been outed by the press for having their “people” rig the machines on their behalf. They are both corrupt with a long history of fiscal failure and demeaning outbursts towards minorities and the LBGTQ community and incorrect monologues about the internet, marijuana and a woman's right to choose. In this progressive day and age, it makes no sense to have either in office when we are trying to evolve as a country. Allowing either to have whatever they want is the same as letting the screaming brat at your kid's birthday party have a “special” toy for themselves, or letting them go first in the activities. It's a stupid, immature move that is done to appease the brat, but as we all know, will not make said brat happy or quiet, and instead just ruins the party for everyone else. This is not the time to sit back and let them have what they want. We are adults. Act like it. As an adult, we need to stand up and say “NO”. NO you may not rig my election. NO I will NOT sit back and let you corrupt this free land our forefathers fought for. NO you do not get to rule my country. If you're too adult to let the screaming brat have whatever they want at your kid's party, then you are also too adult to sit back and let other people make your votes for you. Don't make excuses. Don't pretend your vote doesn't count. Be an adult and fight back. One way we can start is by contacting our state election boards and demanding a recount. In Kentucky, dial 502-573-7100 8am to 4pm Mon-Fri. Koriander Bullard is an author, cartoonist and human rights advocate. Keep up with her on Facebook!
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