Art, on the other hand, isn't pretty. It's a mess. The joy it gives some people, in mathematical terms, is often directly proportional to the pain it inflicts on others.
Democracy is equidistant from art and math.
But once the marks are made or the holes are punched, that vote instantly changes from theater into data. And for a few decisive hours, that data will be compiled into a decision, into an answer. In this country, we're addicted to that moment of math, that periodic instant when the body politic's results are in. Not that there aren't a few people out there complaining. The biggest bellyachers about the focus-group phenomenon are film directors.