I voted this morning (by mail)...

I voted this morning (by mail) ... and not the way I expected to.  If you're unfortunate (and crazy enough) to be a long-time reader of this blog, then you know that I have uncharacteristically “sat out” this presidential election cycle.  The reason is simple: neither of the leading candidates (Clinton or Trump) is a person I'd support for rest stop toilet cleaner, much less president of this country.  I dismissed the other candidates as a waste of time, with zero chance of winning the election.  My plan was to simply not vote for any candidate for president.

Then a few days ago I read this article.  It's a fascinating romp through U.S. presidential election arcana – and it outlines an unlikely, but possible, way that a conservative candidate named Evan McMullin could win. 

Wait, what!?!?  Someone other than Clinton or Trump could win this?  I'm in!

Now I know next to nothing about McMullin, and I am not endorsing him.  My vote for him is based almost entirely on two things: (1) there's a slim, but non-zero chance that he win the election instead of Trump or Clinton, and (2) he's a conservative Mormon Utahan.  That's enough for me in this cycle!

On the rest of the offices and issues, all but one were slam-dunks for me.   I voted for the most conservative candidate in each race (as there were no non-nutcase Libertarians running).  The proposed state Constitutional amendments were all easy to support; minor, common-sense changes.  The one challenging choice for me was Proposition #11, which would form a Cache County Water District.  That's a vote for more government, something I would usually instantly oppose. :)  In this case I am reluctantly voting for the district, mainly in self-interest: to protect water in Cache County from being poached by the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which is growing very fast and is already a huge water sink...