Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Vote suppression

Like Tim Robbins, I went to my polling place this morning and found out that my name had been removed from the voter rolls, with no explanation. Yes, I moved away from New York for a year and moved back, but I re-registered (different address, same election district) upon my return, and voted in the September primary without a problem. When I called the Board of Elections, they confirmed that I am registered, and said that other people had been complaining about the same thing, and the person on the phone had no explanation for it. They said they couldn't do anything for me over the phone, and my options were to fill out an affidavit ballot or to go downtown and talk to a judge. Not having seen Tim Robbins's advice, I did the affidavit. I'm not 100% certain that my vote will be counted. And this is in New York -- what must be going on right now in Florida??? We are living in a banana republic.

4 comments:

  1. Never ascribe to maliciousness what you can ascribe to incompetence.

    Ask yourself this question... if the McCain camp wanted to suppress voter turnout, why would they do it in a state like New York, which is heavily favored for Obama rather than a state like Ohio or Florida where there is a much better chance of getting the Electoral Votes.

    IOW, I'd guess that your removal from the voter rolls was a goof on someone's part rather than a part of some vast conspiracy to steal the election.

    You're not living in a banana republic.

    The Wolf

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  2. Because isn't right before a presidential general the WORST time to purge the rolls? Geez. Sorry about your fucked-up experience. Live from on the ground in Swing City, Desh

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  3. To be fair, anon, if you *are* going to purge the rolls (legitimately or not), it *only* makes sense to do it *before* the election.

    The Wolf

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  4. Apparently other people also had this problem.

    I personally went home to RI to vote, and everything went smoothly there. Though I was there when they opened at 7am and for all I know things could have gone wrong later in the day...

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