Election Day Worrying

Last night on the local news, I learned that six voters in Contra Costa County had to sue just to be able to vote because their Voter Registration forms had been lost by DMV and the voters didn't find out until after the October 18th registration deadline. These voters had to take two days off from work, find an attorney or figure out how to sue the Registrar of Voters ~ then they had to go to the Registrar's office, then walk six blocks over to the County Courthouse where the Judge questioned some of them, then when the Judge approved all of their Registrations, the voters had to walk back over to the registrar's office and fill out new Voter Registration forms, and then they had to vote that same day in the Registrar's office. It was a very diverse group of voters ~ Jewish, African-American, Caucasian, etc. I wondered however, about the people out there who maybe aren't so savvy, who may not speak English well enough to know what to do, who can't afford to take TWO days off from work or who can't afford to pay for childcare for those two days necessary to prevent their own political disenfranchisement, or who are elderly or disabled so that walking back-and-forth six blocks would be nearly impossible.

C.'s voter registration form was in that pile that got lost at DMV. He registered during the Summer and, when his form failed to arrive in the mail, I gave him the telephone number of the Alameda Registrar of Voters so he could call and investigate. He called several times, he re-registered, he kept following-up until he was sure his name was on the polls. Again, I wondered about the people who don't know they might have to do that. The people who, rightfully so, presume that when you fill out an official government document, it will get properly processed.

After all the trouble he went through to ensure he was registered, C. received the address of his polling place, which is located in an industrial part of Oakland. Before going out to vote this morning, C. checked several maps to make sure he knew how to get to his polling place. He got to the address....and there was nothing there. He checked the address on his forms. There was another voter there, wondering the same thing: WHERE THE HELL IS MY POLLING PLACE?! C. called me on the cell phone, and I told him to call the Voter Hotline at 866-My-Vote1, but later he told me he reached some sort of recording. I went on-line and double-checked the address of his polling place on the Alameda County voter website, which indicated the same mystery-address.....where there was, in fact, no polling place. Then somehow, using his cell phone, C. found some other phone number to call, and the operator explained to him that, yes, the polling place address listed on all the voting materials was INCORRECT. Eventually, C. found his polling place ~ all of this took over an hour. I wondered about the voters out there who don't have that much time to spend trying to find their polling place, or the voters who wouldn't know who to call, or the voters without cell phone or internet access. C. worried he would have to work late to make up the time lost from work ~ since he just moved here from another stated, he didn't know that in California, employers must give workers up to two hours paid time off to vote (although there are technicalities to the rule).

Ai, and it was only 9:30 am by the time this all happened! I suspect we will be up very late ~ watching the news, waiting, wondering, hoping.........for regime change 2004. Some early exit polls look promising in Kerry's favor. I tried to find comfort by calling my parents ~ they both gave me cooking tips on making some mexican rice and sopa de pollo y papas....comfort food. I'm going to light some candles, too.....because as you know, it's better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.

more soon.

Comments

[ludovic]

I ran an election protection hotline last 2 days. many dirty tricks, both legal and not so legal. I thought it was bad when there were 200 people stuck in a county board of elections and likely not to be able to vote. now that i'm watching, my tummy's aching!