Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 733, Voting in an Election.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 733.
© transcript Emily Beynon.
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This episode is a dialogue between Khalid and Bernice.
They're talking about voting in an election and use a lot of vocabulary we might use to describe democratic elections.
Let's get started.
Are you going to the polling place, or are you voting by absentee ballot again?
I always vote with an absentee ballot, so I can vote in the comfort of my own home and in my own time.
In fact, I've already mailed in my ballot.
Good for you.
Which candidate did you vote for in the governor's race?
I didn't vote for either of the bozos that are running.
I voted for a write-in candidate.
A write-in candidate?
There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that a write-in candidate is going to win this election.
That may be so, but I have to vote with my conscience and I can't bring myself to vote for either of those people.
Have you voted?
Not yet.
I'm going to vote at the polls on election day.
There are a lot of them this time.
Yeah, but the governor's race is the only thing I care about.
I can't stand the thought of having either of those bozos as the next governor.
Just out of curiosity, who did you write in as a candidate?
You.
Me?
You're crazy.
I don't want to be governor.
It was either you or me, and I'd rather not be a candidate and have to be in the company of those bozos.
Our dialogue begins with Khalid saying to Bernice, are you going to the polling place?
Or are you voting by absentee ballot again?
A polling place is a place usually in a school or a library, although here in California it could be in someone's garage or living room.
A place where you go to fill out a piece of paper or enter information in a computer to vote in an election.
So a polling place is a place where you go and vote.
Where I'm from.
In Minnesota, when I was growing up, polling places were always in schools or the basement of churches or other buildings, community or public buildings.
Here in California, for some reason, a lot of the polling places are in homes.
I think part of the reason is that, for safety reasons, the schools don't want all of these adults coming into the school, people they don't know.
So Khalid is asking Bernice if she is going to go to her polling place or if she is going to vote, for She's going to indicate who she wants to be elected by absentee ballot.
To be absent, A-B-S-E-N-T, means you are not there.
It's the opposite of present.
Absentee refers to someone who isn't there.
It can be used as an adjective, as it is here, to describe something or someone who isn't physically present.
A ballot.
B-A-L-L-O-T is the piece of paper traditionally that you mark on.
That indicates who you want to win the election.
And you give that ballot to someone, and then they count the ballots.
So an absentee ballot is this piece of paper, but you are actually there at the polling place.
You mail the ballot in.
So here in the united states, in many states, you can vote by mail.
I always vote by mail.
They send me the ballot.
I fill it out.
I put a stamp on it.
I mail it back.
I don't have to go anywhere on the day that the election is officially, which is what we would call Election Day.
Pretty clever, huh?
Bernice says, Meaning, I can be comfortable.
I don't have to go out anywhere.
She also likes voting by absentee ballot so she can vote in her own time, meaning when she wants to do something, when something is convenient to her.
Bernice says, in fact, I've already mailed in my ballot.
Khalid says, good for you.
Which candidate did you vote for in the governor's race?
A candidate is a person who wants to be elected to a position.
The governor is the leader or head of the state.
Our governor used to be Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now it's a man by the name of Jerry Brown here in California, as I am recording this in 2011.
Khalid wants to know who Bernice voted for in the governor's race.
We use the word race, R-A-C-E, here to mean an election.
It can also mean a competition between two people.
Race has a number of other meanings also in English, and those can be found in our learning guide.
Bernice says, I didn't vote for either of the bozos that are running.
A bozo B-O-Z-O is here meant to mean a clown, more generally, an unintelligent person who is not doing his or her job very well, who does a very poor job at something.
So she's describing the candidates as bozos.
It's kind of like saying they're idiots.
I voted for a write in candidate, Bernice says.
There are certain rules for being elected and being on the ballot in the United States.
However, sometimes people don't want to vote for anyone who is officially on the ballot, and so they will write someone's name in.
This is perfectly legal.
In some states you have to register your name if you want to be a write-in candidate, even though your name is not printed on the ballot.
Here in California, you can write in someone's name, someone who is not officially on the ballot.
These people almost never win.
But some people like to do it as a protest to say I don't like any of you people.
I have often written in candidates here for elections.
Khalid says.
A write-in candidate says The phrase a snowball's chance in hell means absolutely no chance, no possibility or simply impossible.
It's impossible for a write-in candidate to win this election.
That's what Khalid is saying.
A snowball is cold.
It's made from basically frozen water or water crystals.
That Hell in the Christian religion is where you go if you're a bad person, after you die.
And traditionally, it's been thought of as a very hot place.
So if you put a snowball in a hot place, of course, the snowball will melt.
It will disappear.
It will become water and no longer be a snowball.
So a snowball's chance in hell means no chance because, of course, it would not be able to survive.
Khalid says there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that a write-in candidate is going to win this election, this race, this competition.
Bernice says that may be so, but I have to vote with my conscience and I can't bring myself to vote for either of those people.
Your conscience is your sense of right and wrong.
What is the right thing to do, the correct thing to do, the ethical thing to do, and what is the wrong thing to do.
Bernice says, I can't bring myself to vote for either of those people.
This expression, to not be able to bring yourself to do something, means that you can't do it because you think it is wrong.
You can't even force yourself to do it because you think it is such a bad idea.
We might say, oh, she looks so happy.
I can't bring myself to tell her any bad news today.
I just can't do it.
Then Bernice asks Khalid, have you voted?
And he says, not yet.
He's going to go to the polling place and vote on the day of the election, Election Day.
He says, To read up on something means to learn about something by reading about it, reading information, reading books, websites and so forth.
A ballot measure is a proposal for a new law that the people vote on directly.
Normally you vote for people, and those people, those representatives, vote on the laws for your state or your city or your country.
However, sometimes in American elections, the people vote directly on a law.
It might be a law to allow gambling, or it might be a law to increase taxes.
Just about any kind of law can be voted on directly by the people in some states.
Not all states have this system.
Khalid says there are a lot of them this time, a lot of ballot measures.
Here in California, we always have many, many ballot measures.
I think at least five or ten every election.
These are laws that we are being asked to vote on directly.
Bernice says, yeah, but the governor's race is the only thing I care about.
She only cares about who wins the election for governor.
She says, I can't stand the thought of having either of those bozos as the next governor.
Bernice says, I can't stand that.
This means I cannot tolerate, I cannot find acceptable.
To be able to stand something is to be able to tolerate it, often because it is difficult.
We say, I can't stand it, meaning I can no longer do this.
I can no longer be in this situation.
You might say, I can't stand the hot weather.
I hate it. is another way of saying that.
Khalid says, just out of curiosity, just because I want to know, who did you write in as a candidate?
Remember Bernice was going to write the name of someone in and not vote for the people whose names were on the ballot.
Bernice says, you.
Khalid says, me?
You're crazy.
I don't want to be governor.
Bernice responds, it was either you or me.
And I'd rather not be a candidate and have to be in the company of those bozos.
To be in the company of someone means to spend time with someone or to be in the same place as someone.
Bernice really doesn't like the candidates.
She calls them bozos no less than three times.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Are you going to the polling place or are you voting by absentee ballot again?
I always vote with an absentee ballot, so I can vote in the comfort of my own home and in my own time.
In fact, I've already mailed in my ballot.
Good for you.
Which candidate did you vote for in the governor's race?
I didn't vote for either of the bozos that are running.
I voted for a write-in candidate. write-in candidate.
There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that a write-in candidate is going to win this election.
That may be so, but I have to vote with my conscience and I can't bring myself to vote for either of those people.
Have you voted?
Not yet.
I'm going to vote at the polls on election day.
I want more time to think about whom to vote for and to read up on the ballot measures.
There are a lot of them this time.
Yeah, but the governor's race is the only thing I care about.
I can't stand the thought of having either of those bozos as the next governor.
Just out of curiosity, who did you write in as a candidate?
You.
Me?
You're crazy.
I don't want to be governor.
It was either you or me, and I'd rather not be a candidate and have to be in the company of those bozos.
It's always a pleasure to be in the company of our script writer, the wonderful Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Say.
Hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
