voting absentee by mail in Texas . . .

When you sign your name, what does your "r" or "k" look like? Do they look like the same "r" or "k" in an earlier signature of yours? Or do you sometimes sign your name slightly different for whatever reason. Were you sitting before and standing now, were you using your favorite pen that flowed like magic or an oddball ballpoint that required extra muscle to leave a trail of ink?

A and I mailed in our ballots yesterday for the Nov 6 election and I think we did it with a touch of smugness that our votes were in without an hour or so in line. This type of voting in Texas is available for those of us who have previously celebrated our 65th birthdays - remember the kids, the cake, the wine and all of the grandchildren - what a party! A and I realized that we live in a state where our choice for president will end up uncounted (except for those who look at the popular vote as though it held some real significance); however, it did not occur to me that there is some risk in having the vote counted at all because it was not punched into some machine. Look, I'm already uncomfortable with the machines and the possibilities of data manipulation on some local or regional basis but what caused me to choke a bit on my coffee this morning was that our local election board might decide to toss our ballots without even opening the envelope . . .

. . . the local elections board met to decide which absentee ballots to count. It was not an easy job.

The board tossed out some ballots because they arrived without the signature required on the outside of the return envelope. It rejected one that said “see inside” where the signature should have been. And it debated what to do with ballots in which the signature on the envelope did not quite match the one in the county’s files. “This ‘r’ is not like that ‘r,’ ” Judge Augustus D. Aikens Jr. said, suggesting that a ballot should be rejected.

Ion Sancho, the elections supervisor here, disagreed. “This ‘k’ is like that ‘k,’ ” he replied . . ."