10 October 2008

Excuse Me, Sir, May I Vote, Please?

I'm a poll worker, so I must vote absentee. I filed the request more than a month ago with the board of elections. A week or two later, when I received my assignment from the board, a note that was enclosed acknowledged the previously filed request. No problem.

Today, I received two forms from the board of elections: One said that I hadn't completed the form correctly because my address wasn't on the form (it was because the BOE put it there). The second form acknowledged a request that I had made prior to the primary, but said that I would be required to file it again because of a ruling by the Secretary of State. Hmmmm. Problem.

Some weeks back, my older daughter sent in an absentee ballot request. It was returned because the address the provided isn't the address they have on record for her, yet the Board of Election's website shows the proper address, the same one that was on the request. Granted, she has a common name, but still .... Another problem.

It doesn't take too many instances like this for the average voter to just say, "Fuck it!" and not vote. And that, of course, is exactly what the GOP would like. I get the idea that the GOP would like it if only male land owners with a net worth of at least half a million dollars would be allowed to vote. That would simplify the process a lot.

And for no reason that we can divine, my wife's affiliation was changed from "Democrat" to "unaffiliated". We're still trying to find out why. This change has no effect in the general election, of course, and (because any voter may request any ballot in the primary) it has no effect for primary elections, either.

But still .... Might one call this yet another problem?

Yes, I am in Ohio. Why do you ask?

No comments: