4.22.2008

Another Disenfranchised Voter

Mr. M is not having a good day.

He's been excited about the primary for weeks and weeks now. We got up early, donned our lucky knickers, and headed out to our local polling place.

Where he wasn't allowed to vote.

The last time he updated his driver's license, he also changed his voter registration. This was back in 2004, before the last election. He'd be registered Green, but he decided that was unduly idealistic, he usually goes Dem, and he wanted to be able to vote in the primary. He got his new voter registration card in the mail, and it said "D."

Unfortunately, PENNDoT, stellar as ever, didn't pass the information on to the PA Dept. of State. So when Mr. M showed up at the polls, he couldn't vote. What makes the story even better is that the gentleman helping us explained that 99% of people who have any problems at all with their registration are those who have done it through PENNDoT. I'm now dreading today's results, knowing how many people in our state recently changed their registration.

UPDATE: So now I'm just made. It looks like we've known this was a problem for years now, and we're not fixing it OR educating about it!

5 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your husbands troubles. There are a lot of people who cannot vote today because of the party requirement deadline.

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  2. NO-- he got in way, way under the deadline-- by a couple of years. The problem was that the DMV didn't get the info to the Dept. of State. My husband did everything right, received an updated voter registration card, but the DMV screwed up and he wasn't put on the rolls.

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  3. TOTALLY SUCKS! what a bummer. i would have been crushed had that happened to me this year.

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  4. grumble, grumble....are people going to pitch a fit?

    I appreciate your Jonah post.

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  5. I would be VERY MAD too. argggg.

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"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was."
-Saint Molly Ivins