There has been a lot of fuss over the election in Afghanistan. First there was the uproar over rampant fraud. Lately, there has been a lot of fuss about the runoff (or lack thereof). I contend that this is much ado about not much. Election fraud occurs in the United States every November. And we also have winners chosen by way of judicial decision or administrative decision, rather than just a simple vote count. Remember the 2000 Presidential election and the 2008 Minnesota Senate election? That’s just to name two biggies off the top of my head.

Today was an election day in my locale. There were several referendum questions. They were a mix of questions that were legitimate attempts to rein in an out of control legislature and others that were just pet issues of various busybodies. The vote also included some local races; a random batch of scoundrels looking to gain access to the public coffers.

I was fortunate that I did not need to wait in line. I am already registered to vote, so I got to bypass a very long line of people. Who were those people? They were the people who were registering to vote. I remember registering last year. I remember asking the clerk if she needed to see my identification. “Nope.” Huh, that’s odd. Ditto today, when I went to the table to obtain my ballot. I was asked my name and street address. I told him. I asked if he needed to see my identification. I even offered it up. “Nope.” Okay.

That is really concerning because I know lots of people in my apartment building and they have the same address as me. How easy would it be for me to vote early and get their ballots? And was the same-day voter registration as non-thorough as mine was last year?

Anyway, my point here is not to knock the local officials in my semi-corrupt locale. I just wanted to highlight that there are some very questionable irregularities even in the greatest country ever. So there was a lot of fraud in Afghanistan’s election. So what? If you get the chance, watch Street Fight – the documentary about Cory Booker’s first ill-fated run for mayor of Newark. Then tell me how fair and clean our elections are.

I do agree that the degree of corruption in the Afghanistan election is a problem. But what level would be acceptable, given the security situation, the politics, the cultural issues, and so on? Probably something lower than this – but probably not much lower.