What it's like to vote for DNC members

by Dante Atkins (hekebolos) [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

It's an exercise that nobody likely cared very much about four years ago.  And I would imagine that people aren't likely to care about it four years from now, because it seems that the Democratic primary process will have undergone some modification by then.  But right now, who California's at-large DNC members--i.e., superdelegates--are, has captured the popular imagination.

An election like this doesn't happen every day.  In fact, only about 300 people get to vote  for these voters (who do DNC business besides, but that's not nearly as sexy) every four years.  This year, I happened to be one of them, as I was proxying for Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti.

Brian gave you the election results earlier.  But what's the voting process like?  We all believe in election integrity, after all.

For more, go below the fold.  With photos.
I got to the voting room right at about 9:05am, before there was a huge line.  But even at that, the process reminded me of a Presidential caucus: you have to pass through a gauntlet of sign-waving campaigners to get to your voting room:

Once there, the process is exceedingly efficient: you sign in to get your ballot.  Doesn't matter who you are, you still have to stand in line.  Here's our own Matt Lockshin checking in voting Executive Board members, with Congresswoman Barbara Lee next in line:

Once you've signed for your ballot, you sit at a table and fill in a scantron sheet as if you were taking the SAT.  Complete with proctors to make sure no funny business is going on!

Once you've filled out your ballot, you take your ballot over to the scanton-box combination.  The machine scans your ballot.  If there's a problem--like an overvote or a spoiled ballot--it will spit it back out at you.  If it's valid, it will spit it into the awaiting box.

And that's how the people who help elect the next President of the United States are themselves elected.  You always knew you were curious.