Adventures in Voting

Since I moved at the beginning of October, I was very careful to mind my states deadline for submitting a change of address and still being eligible to vote in this election. Here in NY, that deadline was Oct. 15, 2008. I made sure my paperwork was mailed in plenty of time to be received and processed. In fact, my mother and I mailed ours the same day, from the same mailbox. Well I guess you see where this is heading by now. . .

We showed up to vote, and mom is on the rolls, I am not. Despite having copies of my change of address, new lease, etc... I was told I would need to fill out a paper ballot that might be counted later in the night or to call or go to the local Board of Elections. I choose to leave and drive the 4o mins. to my old polling place to vote. I honestly didn't believe that if I filled out a paper ballot it would get counted, and my vote matters to me. For the first time when registering to vote, I choose not to affiliate with any party, and I can't shake the sinking feeling that it may have had something to do with me not appearing on the rolls. The undecided vote is supposed to be a big factor in this election. My mother did choose a party affiliation, and she did appear on the rolls.

I am just grateful that this move was a local one and I was able to get to an old polling place and still vote. My last two moves have been from state to state, so obviously I wouldn't have been able to get back there to vote.

I plan to contact the Board of Elections after the election is over to check into the status of my registration and make sure it gets straightened out. I wonder how many other people will have problems when they try to vote today?