Voting Grumpiness

All this has happened before, and it seems that now it's all happening again. The subject is voting. Once before, when I lived in Oregon, I had to watch my beloved right to vote at the polls go away. The last couple of elections before I moved away, we all got ballots in the mail. It felt like filling out a customer service questionnaire instead of participating in the democratic process. The state saved a little money (it really wasn't that much) and gave up a fair portion of voter anonymity and security. In addition, citizens are robbed of that one remaining civic activity that tied them to their community. Can you tell I don't approve of vote-by-mail?

Therefore, I was incredibly grumpy when a ballot measure similar to the Oregon law passed (I voted against it, but with no luck) in Washington state. Fortunately, the office of elections was unable (for several years) to ready itself for mail elections, and so we were saved. If they are to be believed, the election of 2008 will be the last polling place election in Washington State. Ever after, we will all have those awful mail-in ballots. Aw well, I thought to myself, at least we get to vote properly one more time. I was particularly happy that we would get to do things the traditional way for this, an historic presidential election.

Imagine my surprise, and displeasure, when I received a mail-in ballot at my house. I checked my voter status online, and found that I was listed as a permanent absentee. This was news to me since I'd never filled out the paperwork or checked the box for absentee. Calling the office of elections, I discovered the problem. Since all people will be mail-in soon, the elections people have decided to force some people to make the switch early. How did I have the fortune of being one of their victims? I had the temerity to change my name.

In fact, any kind of change to your voter information automatically tripped this switch. The helpful elections person on the phone informed me that there was no way to put me back on the rolls of poll voters. If I really wanted, I was welcome to drive down to my polling place with my ballot and fill it out in a little booth. Of course, I still can't put it into the machine because they expect mine to come in an envelope with my signature. Gah! They are missing the point! I might as well go into my garage, get out a cardboard box, and put in head in it while I mark my ballot.

It makes me sad to think that I won't get to take my children to vote with me the way my parents took me. I clearly remember the excitement of going to the public school with my mom, getting a look at the all important ballot, and squeezing into the little booth with her as she made her choices. It was the first time I ever thought about what it meant to be a citizen. Sometimes symbolic actions are important to remind people that they are part of something greater than themselves. So I'll mark my ballot, I'll sign my name, and I'll put the thing in the post box with my fingers crossed. However, I can't help feeling like we've lost something here.