When I went to vote yesterday in CA (Culver City) they had my

[Lindsey]

name on the poll highlighted (along with several others) as "inactive." The young girl behind the table didn't know what it meant except that I couldn't vote. Then an elderly gentleman came over and said all I needed to do was recite an oath (which I did). I then voted. I have called the 1800 number twice and they've been VERY nice. I'm waiting for a call now from a "legal assistant" to try to find out what happened. Did anyone else experience this? It really has me worried because if I wasn't politically knowledgable, I might have just walked away and not voted at all. I wonder if this happened to other people.

[redqueen]

1. That's disturbing

Please let us know what they tell you.

Did you vote in the midterms? In 2000?

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Well I could not vote abstentee in the Recall

they had us REMOVED from the rolls... don't ask

We re registered, and no problem yesterday... but I still worry

[WoodrowFan]

2. maybe

In Virginia you get that if you do not respond to a note from the Post Office asking you to confirm that you still live at the same address. It's to weed out voters who move to another state. My neighbors who moved 4 years ago were still in the poll book with a ? next to their name (which marks them as inactive). Any voter that comes in to vote that has a ? next to their name simply signs a form swearing that they still live at that address and then they vote.

What really disturbs me (as an election office rin Virginia) is that the young poll worker did not know what to do in your situation! That's very poor training!

[displacedtexan]

4. Usually, 'inactive' means

that you voted in the past (and are listed on the voter rolls), but you didn't vote in the last election cycle (whatever time period your state board of elections decides)... this also usually means that you need to re-register to vote.

[Lindsey]

7. That's what's soooo disturbing..

I voted in 2002, I voted in the Davis recall(Jesus, I even marched in the streets of Santa Monica against Arnold), I have lived at this address for four years and have NEVER received anything from the post office. I just got a call from the "assistant" and she didn't know squat. She started quoted some codes when my cell phone cut her off. I'm calling her back now.

[Gman]

11. That sounds right and in fact its probably a good thing

because here in TX if you don't vote in the November election you're dropped completely from the rolls and don't even get the benefit of at least still having your name at the polling place. So if that's really all you had to do to 're'-register that's a good thing compared to other states.

[salin]

5. Don't know what it means... but perhaps

is related to the problems with the motor voter laws ... in that in transient areas - peoples' names remain on the poll books long after they have moved. Various places have tried to find ways to identify who is still in-district/precinct and who isn't... not so much to "purge" or disenfranchise, but in making precinct divisions (e.g., how many folks are in the precinct, how many machines are needed, etc.) In this college town, there is one precinct on campus that has many hundred registered, but regularly has about three active voters in the primaries - in part because over the years students have registered, but short of them sending a card in to say that they have moved, they remain on the books as registered voters residing in that district.

Is it possible that you have voted in this precinct, and then perhaps were inactive for a few election cycles (maybe lived in another precinct)... in which case maybe this is an effort to determine who seems to be inactive but still periodically votes versus those who really may have voted.

Which reminds me... I may still be on the voting books in Santa Clara County....

[eissa]

6. I did something bad yesterday

My mom and sister moved two months ago. Of course my sister, although very sweet, is incredibly flaky and not political at all. So she never informed the clerk's office of the change in address. After I made some calls for her, we went to the polls with the required documentation. At the poll we discovered that she never changed her party affiliation either -- she was still a repuke! So I took advantage of it and had her vote for the weakest candidates in all the races (including Bill Jones as an opponent for Boxer), and the blank circle under bush! HA! Even better, I did not bother to tell my repuke mother any of this (knowing full well she'll never follow up on this herself), so she'll be in for a shock when she goes to vote for bush in Nov. and gets turned away :evilgrin:

[ChrisNYC]

8. It happened to me in NYC in local elections last fall

Even though I've voted in every national election since i moved here. They also had no record of me voting in the 2002 Congressional elections, even though I did. (No idea if that vote was counted) I eventually gave up with the bureaucracy and just re-registered and was able to vote yesterday. I never was given an explanation for why I was blocked the first time.

[Mick Knox]

9. What kind of oath?

What did you have to swear to?

[Lindsey]

10. Just that I was who I said I was and I don't really remember

'cause I was so upset (inside, not obviously). I have lived at this address for four years and have voted in EVERY election. I spoke with the assistant again and she spoke with a lawyer (I mentioned that I didn't want to have to call Maxine Waters and the L.A. Times) and she promised to call me back today. We'll see. If she doesn't call me back by Tomorrow, I damn well will call Maxine Waters AND the L.A. Times. Guys, I'm just worried that I'm not the only person that this happened to and that it may be happening all over. I'm especially worried about November. I put NOTHING and I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING past the Repubs to steal the election again. We must be ready and in the mind set that we have to fight for what we are supposed to be entitled to. I'm calling Kerry's people once per week.

[Mick Knox]

12. OIC, disturbing to say the least.. nt

[redqueen]

14. Well done!

That's the way to get results, you go!

And you're exactly right -- we all need to jump all over the HAVA officials in our states to try to get paper trails implemented before November!

[genius]

16. HAVA is garbage. No paper trail required. We need VCIAA

Kevin Shelley used HAVA as an excuse to refuse us paper trails until 2006.

[ronnykmarshall]

13. On the flip side

When I went to vote, I noticed that my partner's name was not highlighted off as "voted". He voted absentee last week. Now, when I've worked at polling places before, we were given I list of people that had voted absentee and we crossed there names off as "AV" absentee voter.

[genius]

15. Voting machines were down in Loretta SAnchez's district

The Registrar himself did not know how to issue provisional ballots. One Democratic candidate couldn't vote and neither could his neighbors.

[Tim_in_HK]

17. This happened to me in NYC as well

It occurred when I called the Board of Election to request my absentee ballot.

The woman said I was registered, but 'inactive,' and I asked her what tha means. She said that in NYC, the Board of Elections culls the election rolls every 2 (or was it three?) years, and if you haven't voted over that period, then you are placed on the 'inactive' list. Not a big deal, she said, because if you go to the polling place and find out you are classified as 'inactive,' you only have to sign an affadavit saying you are who you are (similiar concept to what you did, it seems). Of course, this wasn't of help to me b/c I am abroad, but in the end it turned out fine.

The one thing I said to the woman I spoke with at the Board of Elections was, I know that you may need to go over your lists periodically to clean them up, but shouldn't you have the window be at least 4 years, so that people who vote in the presidential electiosn don't have to worry about being placed on the 'inactive' list (the thinking being that the most people show up to vote for president than in other elections). She thought that was a good idea . . . but they aren't thinking of changing it.

Regarding your experience, if I hadn't called the woman and had shown up at the polling both and was told that I couldn't vote, I would probably not have known what to do. The woman who told you you couldn't vote sounds like she didn't really know what she was supposed to be doing.