Flying All The Way Across The Country Just To Cast Her Vote
There's a story in the LA Times about a woman who flew from Massachusetts to Los Angeles to cast her ballot. Melissa Etehad writes:
When it dawned on Arohi Sharma that she wouldn't be able to cast her vote in the 2016 presidential election, she was devastated.Sharma, a second-year graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School, had mailed her vote-by-mail application to the Los Angeles County registrar's office Oct. 24, but because it was lost in the mail or not recorded, she was told she wouldn't be able to request an absentee ballot in time to vote.
For Sharma, 26, a native Californian, participating in this election was more than a civic duty. It was writing history. She had only one option left: fly from Cambridge, Mass., back to Los Angeles so that she could cast her ballot during early voting.
So that's what she did. On Saturday, Sharma boarded her 7:30 a.m. flight and landed in Los Angeles more than 5 hours later.
Sharma is a political enthusiast and understands the voting system well, but like many university students and other Americans who request absentee ballots, she was caught in a bureaucratic and logistical process many describe as unduly cumbersome.
...The $627 plane ticket was an extravagance that not everyone could afford, Sharma acknowledged. "I recognize that I had the privilege to overcome the hurdle, but there are infinitely more who don't have those kinds of resources," she said.
A comment on the LAT site, under the story:
LCar100
I'm sorry, how did it take her until last week to figure this out? And she's at Harvard? This doesn't speak well for Harvard's admissions standards. Perhaps they don't consider common sense in their process.
Another comment:
Brainwashed_in_Church
@LCar100 It is truly mind boggling. I just checked out her Linkedin. Extremely impressive. This woman is extremely accomplished - no fluke. But still, how can someone supposedly so in tuned with the political process make such a stupid mistake? (I confirmed, she did NOT work for the US Weather Service during last year's El Nino predictions.)
My response:
Amy Alkon
@Brainwashed_in_Church It's called being human. There's so little cutting a person a break these days. Perhaps it's something we all need to think more of.Why might someone not figure this out till the last minute? Perhaps because they have a busy life.
I was just telling my boyfriend how friends who emigrated from the former USSR and Cuba value voting and our rights and freedoms in a way too few Americans do. I respect this woman greatly for spending hundreds of dollars and putting in the time and effort to vote.
Perhaps we can appreciate her for that instead of denigrating her for not noticing she didn't have her absentee ballot in time.
Let me guess. Federal student loan money? For the plane ticket?
And in California? Is does seem kinda silly. Kinda like flying back to Russia to vote for Putin.
Isab at November 9, 2016 12:07 AM
We have ballot measures here and judges to vote for, among other things. I respect the hell out of her for doing this.
And why assume she's got loan money? It sounds like she's from a wealthy family.
Amy Alkon at November 9, 2016 5:57 AM
It is one thing to cut someone a break. But trying to hype a story as if it was exceptional when it's really about mild stupidity is annoying. I'd guess more people are reacting to the fact that this is even a story more than to this particular person.
Ben at November 9, 2016 6:04 AM
The idea that we need to make voting so convenient that one can do it in the supermarket dairy aisle is ludicrous.
You have 2 years between elections, more than enough time to make plans for how you'll cast your ballot when the time comes. She was not "caught in a bureaucratic and logistical process many describe as unduly cumbersome." She procrastinated and missed clearly published deadlines.
Conan the Grammarian at November 9, 2016 7:49 AM
She's a perfect example of how her brain has not fully developed due to not getting enough sleep.
Most adults pay attention to what is important to them (last call at their favorite bar, when does the convenience store close so they can get their beer, and so on).
Besides this is a "look at me" story which initiates a "gag" reflex in most. (Obviously Californians have a "AW! That's heroic!" reflex.
Bob in Texas at November 9, 2016 8:03 AM
Dear Ms. (hoping that's the right pronoun) Sharma:
There are papers due, and possibly exams to take in your college environment. Please take a moment of time to use a fragment of your obviously superior collegiate intellect to program your favorite PDA with those deadlines. Perhaps you have heard of the "iPad"? These are particularly suited to those easily distracted, even when a person is qualified beyond having a pleasant personality.
Meanwhile, congratulations on your registration for candidacy with the Democratic Party. Having successfully blamed your own lack of preparation on a system of apocryphal and anonymous origin and management, you have simultaneously decremented your desirability as a productive corporate executive and incremented your approach to public office through a skillful appeal to patriotism and sympathy. I see you already have the support of major media!
Continue, and you may look forward to a long life of high pay and little achievement.
Radwaste at November 9, 2016 9:56 AM
Ask yourselves how the media would have treated this story if it had been a white male who planned to vote for Trump.
RACIST, SEXIST WHITE OPPRESSOR WASTES PARENTS' MONEY ON AIR TRIP TO VOTE
Subhead: Fish-faced enemy of the people screwed up own voter registration.
Robert at November 9, 2016 6:36 PM
Robert: "Ask yourselves how the media would have treated this story if it had been a white male who planned to vote for Trump"
Yes, and that is a large part of why Trump won. It isn't just being ignored by the "elites" that has middle America pissed off - it is the "elites'" contempt for people that aren't like them that caused so many to vote for him.
charles at November 10, 2016 6:52 PM
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