Reply #59: I live in NY

[Tyrone Slothrop]

But something similar happened to me too.

I was registered in a different state as I had moved to NY in late 2003. In April of '04, I filled out a form to have my registration transferred to NY state from IL. No problem.

In September of '04, I received a postcard from the state's election board specifically addressed to me and telling me exactly where I was supposed to go vote, which precinct I was in, etc. On Election Day, I took the card with me just in case.

The pollworkers indicated that I was not in their books; I wondered if this might happen as I had transferred my registration relatively recently (as far as bureaucracy runs, anyway). They gave me one of the "special" ballots and told me that the main registration office would look me up and if I had valid registration it would be counted. I figured this was what happened and that the registrar had forgotten to add me to the book given to the pollworkers; after all, I had receieved the notice from the election board telling me where to go, etc.

I left feeling patriotic and hopeful that we were going to take the WH back.

Of course, we didn't.

What stuck in my craw, however, was the letter I received from the election board about 4-5 months after the election. They informed me that I had never registered with the state etc. and so my vote was not counted. In fact, my ballot I had filled out was included in the rejection form letter they sent me.

It still makes me slightly nauseous just thinking about it.