Today, October 19, I went out and voted early. And besides casting my ballot, I came away with a few observations.
FIRST — PEOPLE ARE VOTING!
The place was crowded! Plenty of people showed up to vote early, and despite the crowd, everything ran smoothly.
A big THANK YOU to the election workers and volunteers who make this possible.
I don’t know how many hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of people are helping run elections throughout Broward and Miami-Dade counties, but they deserve recognition.
Everyone was friendly, professional, and helpful. No chaos, no problems, no nonsense. They checked my driver’s license, pulled up my information, and I voted.
That’s how it’s supposed to work!
SECOND — ENOUGH WITH THE DAMN POLITICAL SIGNS!
Seriously, how many signs does one candidate need?
There must have been hundreds of them! Along the roads, down the driveway, one on top of another, everywhere you looked.
Does anyone actually believe that seeing a candidate’s name 100 times instead of 10 is going to change someone’s vote?
And think about the waste. All that plastic, all those metal stakes, all that money, just to create a forest of political advertising.
I’m not suggesting we eliminate political signs. But how about some common sense?
Ten signs per candidate around a polling location should be more than enough. Frankly, even that’s excessive.
Hundreds? Ridiculous!
THIRD — AI MAY BE ONE OF THE BEST TOOLS EVER CREATED FOR INFORMED VOTING.
Before I went to vote, I visited my county’s election website and pulled up my sample ballot.
Then I went through it. EVERY candidate. EVERY amendment. EVERY issue.
When I knew where I stood, great.
When I didn’t understand something, I researched it.
And when something was particularly complicated, like Amendment 1, I asked AI to explain what it meant, what it would actually do, and what the arguments were on both sides.
I gave AI my criteria and priorities and used it to help analyze the choices.
At the end, I printed out my selections and took them with me.
No guessing. No trying to remember names. No standing in the voting booth wondering what an amendment actually means.
I had already done my homework.
And that is something I would encourage everyone to do.
Don’t let AI do your thinking. Use AI to help you think better.
FOURTH — DO WE REALLY NEED TO KEEP BUILDING BIGGER LIBRARIES?
My polling location was a large public library.
And something caught my attention.
The voting area was busy. The library itself? Not so much.
There were some people using computers and doing other things, but it certainly wasn’t overflowing with library patrons.
Now, I’ve seen ballot proposals asking taxpayers for more money for libraries.
And I have to wonder: What exactly are we spending all this money on?
We live in 2026.
You can research almost anything online. You can read books electronically, take courses, receive tutoring, and access an incredible amount of information without ever leaving your home.
I noticed the library offered online tutoring services. EXCELLENT! That’s exactly the kind of thing we should be expanding.
Libraries certainly have a purpose. But do we need more massive buildings? Or should we be investing more in digital services that reach people wherever they are?
One visit doesn’t tell the whole story, but it certainly made me question whether we’re spending our library dollars in the right places.
That’s something I intend to look into further.
FIFTH — WHY DO WE HAVE EARLY VOTING AND THEN A SEPARATE ELECTION DAY?
Here’s something that makes absolutely no sense to me.
Today is October 19. Early voting is underway.
Then early voting stops.
And then we have another Election Day in November.
WHY?
Why not simply have an election WEEK? Or TWO WEEKS?
Open the polls, let people vote throughout that period, and close everything on the final day.
One continuous election period.
Instead, we’ve created this distinction between “early voting” and “Election Day” as though voting needs to be divided into separate events.
I understand there are laws, logistics, and administrative considerations involved.
But from a practical standpoint, why make something more complicated than it needs to be?
It’s worth asking whether a continuous voting period could be simpler and more efficient.
SIXTH — MY VOTING EXPERIENCE WAS EASY.
I walked in, presented my identification, they verified my information, and I voted.
Simple.
I’ve heard plenty of arguments about voter suppression and how difficult voting can be.
I can only speak for myself, but at my polling location, I saw a well-organized process, plenty of voters, helpful election workers, and no obvious problems.
That doesn’t mean everyone everywhere has the same experience. But credit where credit is due: What I saw today worked.
And worked well!
MY FINAL THOUGHT…
I went to vote today and came away thinking about political waste, government spending, public libraries, election procedures, and how artificial intelligence can help ordinary people become better-informed voters.
That’s not bad for one trip to the polls!
Regardless of whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or somewhere in between, take the time to research your ballot.
Don’t just vote for a name because you saw it on 200 plastic signs.
Understand what you’re voting for.
And most importantly…
🇺🇸 GET OUT AND VOTE!
Because as far as I’m concerned:
IF YOU DON’T VOTE, DON’T COMPLAIN!
— Miami Metropolis (MMT)
#MiamiMetropolis #MMT #EarlyVoting #FloridaElections #BrowardCounty #MiamiDade #GetOutAndVote #ArtificialIntelligence #TaxpayerMoney
