Curbside Voting Golf Cart Fleet Adds Two New Carts, Cup Holders Described as ‘a Game Changer for Democracy’

LAKESIDE — The county’s curbside voting program unveiled two new golf carts Tuesday, bringing the fleet to six and introducing what program director Stu Carmichael called “a game changer for democracy: cup holders.”

“Voters bring coffee. Voters have always brought coffee. For years we had nowhere to put the coffee,” said Carmichael, whose official title is Fleet Admiral of Curbside Operations. “Today, that ends. Every cart now has two cup holders. Democracy is now spill-resistant.”

The curbside program serves voters who cannot easily enter the polling place, ferrying ballots to parked cars in a choreographed loop Carmichael describes as “ballet, but with turn signals.”

Driver Rosa Jimenez, a three-year veteran of the fleet, takes pride in her route. “I know every pothole in this parking lot by name,” Jimenez said. “There’s Big Bertha by the oak tree. There’s the Sneaky One near the dumpster. I navigate around them like they’re constituents.”

The new carts feature weather canopies, clipboard holsters, and a laminated card explaining the ballot in what Carmichael called “large, friendly print.” One cart is painted bright yellow. “So voters can see us coming,” Carmichael said. “Also so we can’t lose them. We lost one in 2022. It was behind the shed. We don’t talk about it.”

Voter response has been enthusiastic. “I voted from my car, my coffee never spilled, and Rosa told me to have a blessed day,” said voter Margaret Cole, 78. “Ten out of ten. Would democracy again.”

The lost 2022 cart was recovered behind the shed “exactly where the prophecy said,” Carmichael confirmed. It now serves as a parts donor and, quote, “emotional support vehicle.” Jimenez visits it weekly. “We don’t talk about what happened,” she said, patting its faded roof. “But we remember.” The sunroof proposal remains tabled; Carmichael has resubmitted it rebranded as “a ventilation enhancement with democratic benefits,” which the board agreed to “consider with fresh eyes.”

Jimenez’s parking-lot pothole map — “Big Bertha,” “the Sneaky One,” and a new arrival, “Kevin” — has been adopted as the precinct’s official traffic document. “Kevin appeared in October,” Jimenez said. “We don’t know how. We don’t ask. We respect Kevin.”

Carmichael’s sunroof proposal — rebranded as “a ventilation enhancement” — passed committee 4-3. “The breeze lobby is powerful,” he said. Installation is scheduled for spring. “Democracy,” he added, “will have a sunroof.”

Carmichael’s five-year plan includes a seventh cart and, quote, “a cart with a sunroof, for the voters who like a breeze with their ballot.” The county board has tabled the sunroof proposal pending a cost-benefit analysis and, per the minutes, “further discussion of what a sunroof has to do with voting.”