I cast my first ballot as a Georgia resident this morning.

In some ways, it was the same old same old, being herded through a big hall at a church by kind, elderly poll workers. There was a little confusion as the fact that the hold against enforcement of the Georgia Voter ID law has garnered considerable media attention, so I thought I did not need to provide ID in order to vote.

It turns out that the law simply changed earlier ID requirements to include a photo ID — that’s what is being challenged and is currently blocked from enforcement.

I had appropriate ID, so I was still able to vote. I was just surprised, and of course, I didn’t want to have to give more personal information than was necessary. I’m stubborn that way. I suspect the nice poll workers think I’m crazy.

More to the point, it was my first experience with Diebold electronic voting machines.

Hated them!

Now I LOVE voting. I am a voting and elections geek. I used to love going to vote with my Dad and getting to push the levers in the old curtained voting booth machines. I remember how exciting it was to be old enough to pull the big lever to re-open the curtains and cast the ballots.

Today, the poll worker handed me a bright yellow plastic card that looked like the AmEx cards with the visible computer chip, only yellow. "Here you go!"

"Um…this is my first time voting here. What do I do with this?"

"OH. It’s easy." A slightly younger and more spry poll worker said, "I’ll show her." It goes into a card slot "until it clicks" and then the touch screen lets you vote.

There is no paper record. I don’t even know if the record of my vote is kept on the little yellow card, the card reader, something associated with the touch screen hardware, or somewhere else entirely.

I don’t FEEL like I’ve voted. I don’t feel like anyone could ascertain that my votes were successfully cast. I don’t feel confident that the records are tamper-resistant. And I don’t like it.

Fruit & Veg Count, 11/7/2005: Some strawberries and a little over a cup, probably not quite a cup and a half, of mixed veggies. (Asperagus, broccoli, carrots & cauliflower)

Smudge Update: He is growing fast, no doubt about it. And he’s getting stronger. Feeling him move around is almost not a novelty any more. We can see him move, maybe not every time I feel it, but at least a third of the time I feel it.

The "Alien" effect has started.