Absenteeism

Time to dust off the keyboards and get down to a little old fashioned live blogging. Live blogging? Isn’t that so, like 2004? Why bother live blogging when we’re all using Twitter to share our meaningless thoughts and opinions in real time? Well, this particular event doesn’t lend itself well to Twitter and is better for the older medium. So live blogging it is.

Live blogging as I fill out my absentee ballot. Historic you say. Unprecedented. Breathtaking. Unbelievable exciting. All true and so much more. Fasten your seat belts and let’s get started.

7:47pm Okay, let’s go. Always good to follow the instructions.

1. Vote!

Show your witness your blank ballot, then mark your vote in private.

Honey, take a look at my ballot, will ya? No, that’s not a euphemism. It will only take a minute. Blank, right? Good.

7:51pm On to the ballot. Where to begin, top or bottom of the ballot? Since I already know how I’m going to vote in the big races (thanks to the Koch Brothers’ advisory), let’s start small with the judges.

Supreme Court-Chief Justice

Dan Griffith:

Dan Griffith, protecting:

...Your Inalienable Rights, your Liberty...Your Voice, your Right to Vote...You, the Individual.

As justice, I will defend YOUR rights...from Government Growth

Lorrie Gildea-Incumbent:

I am committed to preserving equal justice under the law, the rule of law in guiding our society, and the guarantees of liberty, safety, and democracy in Minnesota.

Tough choice. I’m heard good things about Gildea in the past, but I gotta go with the small government guy here.

8:01pm Ten minutes and I’ve filled in one oval?

Supreme Court-Associate Justice 1

Dean Barkley

Justice Barry Anderson-Incumbent

This is easy. I can’t stand Dean Barkley.

Supreme Court-Associate Justice 4

David Stras-Incumbent:

Justice David Stras's integrity, impartiality, and hard work earned the support of a diverse group of leading Minnesota lawyers and citizens. Please help us elect him to the Supreme Court in November 2012.

Tim Tingelstad:

I am committed to preserving the people's constitutional right to choose their judges through meaningful, contested, non-partisan judicial elections. I believe that justice is served when judges fear God and love the people, and as a Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, I will be impartial to the parties, while partial to the original intent of the Constitution.

Hard to beat original intent. Tinglestad it is.

8:12pm A couple of uncontested races in the Court of Appeals help me pick up the pace. On to the Fourth District Court.

Judge 22

Liz Cutter

Steven Antolak

Not much to go on here. Antolak references the Declaration of Independence on his page. It’s a thin reed, but you gotta go with what you got.

Judge 44

Lois Conroy

Marc Berris

Another tough call. Conroy is endorsed by Representative Ryan Winkler (a DFLer and my former rep), Berris by Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek. Enough said.

8:29pm The rest of the judicial races are uncontested. Time for a beer. Voting absentee has its benefits.

8:32pm School Board up next. These are always painful. Five candidates, vote for up to three.

John Vento-Endorsed by Robbinsdale Federation of Teachers and SEIU Local 284

Ron Stoffel

Sherry Tyrrell-Incumbent

Helen Bassett-Incumbent

Peter Vasseur

The incumbents are out. And among the other three, Vasseur is only one who I can find any reason to vote for.

8:53pm That’s twenty-one minutes of my life I’m not getting back. Now we get to the important stuff: soil and/or water convservation. Without the benefit of Sisyphus’s guidance I plunge ahead blindly.

Eleonore Wesserle:

Eleonore joined IATP in April 2009 and supports the Trade and Global Governance and Food and Justice programs.

Food and Justice? No food! No justice!

Jeremey Haefs

Haefs doesn’t seem to have a site, but is endorsed by Republicans. Good enough for me.

Soil and Water Conservation District 3

Marjorie Holsten

Brian T. Peterson

Neither candidate has a site. C’mon people, if you’re going to bother to run take two minutes and set up a web site. Holsten is endorsed by the GOP.

Soil and Water Conservation District 4

Richard B. Strong

Andrew K. Moller

Another tough choice. Strong actually won the Fraters Libertas 2010 Soil and Water Endorsement which no doubt helped propel him to victory. But Moller wants to keep taxes low so he wins my vote.

9:14pm A couple of commissioners are next

County Commissioner District 2

Blong Yang

Linda Higgins

Higgins is DFL and labor endorsed. Blong’s got a great name, but looks plenty liberal himself. He says he would have voted against the Twins and Vikings stadiums so at least he’s got that going for him.

Three Rivers Park District

Daniel Freeman

Matthew Laue

I can’t seem to find much on Laue...oh wait there’s this:

Matthew W. Laue, one of two candidates competing for an open seat on the Three Rivers Park District Board, was arrested last week in a St. Paul prostitution sting.

Laue, 43, of Robbinsdale, is accused of making a sex-for-money deal with an undercover officer. He was arrested about 1:10 p.m. Thursday, according to a misdemeanor citation charging him with engaging in prostitution.

That’s gonna be tough to overcome. I’ve actually met Daniel Freeman at local political events so this is a very easy call.

9:34pm Past the difficult decisions now. The rest should be smooth sailing.

9:36pm Voting complete.

Seal your ballot in the tan ballot envelope.

AKA the “secrecy envelope.”

Put the tan ballot envelope in the white signature envelope.

Okay.

Fill out the white signature envelope completely.

Done.

Put the signature envelope in the larger white return envelope to protect your private information from view.

Another white envelope? No other colors were available? Help, I’m being disenfranchised!

Signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered. This live blog is over. The voting has just begun.