Scattered throughout New York City, the manual voting machines are both a symbol and a tool of democracy in the United States. Their design belies their purpose, the simple yet complicated task of discerning the will of the people while holding each individual vote sacred and in secrecy. In all possible locales, in all economic stratum, they wait silently to record their tally, each no more valuable than the other but slightly different as their environments paint some of their atmosphere...
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Scattered throughout New York City, the manual voting machines are both a symbol and a tool of democracy in the United States. Their design belies their purpose, the simple yet complicated task of discerning the will of the people while holding each individual vote sacred and in secrecy. In all possible locales, in all economic stratum, they wait silently to record their tally, each no more valuable than the other but slightly different as their environments paint some of their atmosphere on them. In turn the environments are changed, but much more drastically than they could change the booths themselves. While the machines are the invaders, trudged out every two or four years, and reside in the room like an alien presence, their constancy and build re-purposes everything around them. What once was a mere apartment building lobby or a basketball gym suddenly converts into a place where democracy is exercised and the fate of the city or country is determined. In the end it is the voting machine that defines the room and it is the act of voting, of having an opinion on one's society and acting out on it, that defines the citizen.
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