It wasn't really an election. It was burlesque theater.

As expected, voting turnout was miserably low in yesterday's Miami-Dade’s elections. And, also as expected, many pundits were moaning and groaning this morning about what a horrible thing it is for democracy that so few voters went to the polls. But I ask myself, just what the hell did they think was going to happen? First of all, the ballots were very complicated. They were filled with proposed changes to various city charters, written in convoluted language, both in English and Spanish. I read most of those ballots for Hialeah, Miami Beach, etc. Granted I’m dumb, but I couldn’t understand what the hell they were asking people to vote on. Why load these ballots with so much stuff? Why not write these questions in plain English and Spanish? Then there’s the matter of the supposedly contested races. Give me a break. We all knew who was going to win. The incumbents had all the advantage, they received all the campaign contributions, they got most of the media exposure. Sure we had a low turnout at the polls. But it’s not surprising. That’s what you get when you hold elections at the height of the hurricane season, when, at best, you can expect heat and torrential rains. That’s inevitable when they pack ballots with endless questions written in the best Orwellian fashion. That’s unavoidable when potential voters know that the incumbents are practically guaranteed a victory. To me, the whole thing is very clear. Most voters stayed home because that’s how the powers that be wanted it.