Voters' blank check

At my busy polling place this morning in Clifton, ID challenges, by far, caused the most delays.

One well-dressed middle-aged couple both got shot down for lacking proper ID. The woman huffed, "This is ridiculous," and stormed out, but not before she had the presence of mind to confirm it was indeed the correct precinct, for her return trip.

A "traffic cop" poll worker ordered a construction worker twice her size to turn off his two-way radio blaring away as he was marking up his ballot. "You can't have that thing turned on in here," she warned. Either he's a multi-tasker, or didn't find the ballot issues or the candidates a matter for intense concentration.

While a number of us were waiting in line, I felt sorriest for a relatively new neighbor whose driver's license evidently didn't match her new voting address. After she made several false-starts at providing alternate ID, the poll workers finally said they were satisfied after she produced a checkbook with her new address on it. Saved by a blank check.

Do you get the distinct impression that verifying identities these days is still a work in progress? And after you voted, did you feel, once again, that some of our most high-stakes votes are like signing a blank check?