I’d like to congratulate New York City for doing an excellent job with early voting. City officials made it easy to do one’s civic duty.

I reviewed the slate of candidates and the referendum items the night before, and it took about 10 minutes to vote and submit my ballot at the polling station located at the Met. Everyone working at the polling place was organized and knew what they were doing. I thanked several volunteers for their service. It is a well-oiled machine.

I can’t speak to the security of the voting process, but the volunteers were efficient and ensured that I was who I said I was without checking a physical ID. A lady looked up my name, asked me for my address and had me sign. A very tidy process.

I also would like to apologize for having doubts about the voting system since the 2020 Election. This year there were short lines, no waiting and convenient hours of operation before Election Day. I took a few minutes to recall how cumbersome voting has been in the past.

I hope that the other 49 states, Washington DC and the American territories operated without any issues, and they are voting without any fraud.

Talk about American democracy. An efficient and accurate voting system is critical to fair elections. In 2020, there were a lot of accusations of fraud that were unsubstantiated. A group of thugs tried to disrupt the election. I hope that Americans are more comfortable that this vote is fair.

Our country needs to ensure the security and accuracy of the vote. It’s how we pick our leaders and lawmakers. Every year a certain number of elected officials are up for reelection. Every two years, all representatives of the House stand for election. Every six years, senators must run again. And every four years, we elect the president. That’s a lot of voting and it includes every state. There’s plenty of things that can go wrong. There are literally trillions of dollars in play based upon who is elected.

I hope that Americans vote and do it with knowledge of the people running. Having low turnout is a disgrace. The US should have the highest percentage of voters voting in each election. The US has been far from an acceptable showing in recent years.

Several years ago, my family travelled to Bhutan, a country located between China and India and the Himalayan mountains. While we were there, the country voted to change from a monarchy to a democracy. Almost every eligible person voted, in excess of 90% of the population. The polling places were orderly and everyone had to wear traditional garb to cast a ballot. Maybe America should dress up to vote. It might improve turnout.