Ficlet: Operation New Vote (Double-drabble)

[john_amend_all]

It seems the Jonathans have had some kind of election this week. And the tendency of news articles to refer to one particular psephologist by his surname gave me a minor plotbunny:

Sheriff Anderson broke off from his pacing, and directed another venomous glare at the recalcitrant voting machine. The machine remained unmoved, its totals for Obama and Romney unchanged at several billion each— a remarkable feat, given the three-digit population of the town.

"Any luck with the darn thing?" he demanded.

"Just a few moments more," the slim, red-headed man crouching behind the machine replied. Anderson spent most of those moments wondering if the manufacturer had deliberately picked this infuriating Britisher to rile him, or whether all their staff were like that.

"What about now?" the technician asked.

Anderson looked at the display. "No good. Still three billion each."

"Yes." There was a hint, no more, of testiness in the technician's voice. "For whom?"

"Are you nuts? I told you, Obama and Romney."

"Read the names, please."

Anderson stared at the screen. "Wilson... and Taft. What stupid games are you playing here?"

"Taft." The technician jumped to his feet. "That gives an approximate magnitude for the time shift. Now all I need is the bearing."

"Will you just fix this thing? We're voting for our next president here!"

"I'd noticed." Silver gave him a bright smile. "Might I suggest Roosevelt?"