Elections in Soviet Russia

My wife accompanied me to the precinct today. She didn't vote, since she isn't a citizen, but she was interested in how we go about it, and she hasn't seen me vote before. It surprised her to see how ordinary the affair was: people driving up, walking in, obtaining their Diebold voter cards, doing their business, and leaving.

In Soviet Russia, she explained to me, elections were a kind of holiday. Everyone attended, and the poll workers at least wore formal attire, not the casual attire common here today. The election featured music, and voters could mingle and buy nice food.

That was the reason to go, she added with a smile. You didn't go to vote, because you already knew the outcome before the election! But it was the only time you could find certain nice foods.