Once upon a time something tragic happened. Here is the tale...
We walked out the back door. We all got into the van, Dad, Mom, Melissa, Emma, William and myself. We drove down the gravel road waving farewell to those left behind. We went down our hill and into the little town where our post office is. We walked in to the building where the booths were, rambling off our names, one by one. They passed out white sheets of paper, one by one to each member of my family (minus William and Emma, of course) but they seemed to have forgotten mine.
We asked them if they had a slip for me, and the kind lady looked again, but came up with nothing. She then proceeded to look in the big black book, but my name was not listed. We called the courthouse, and I talked with another kind lady there, hoping she had my name somewhere. She put me on hold (could this be a good thing, I wondered) and then came back on the line to say, "I'm sorry, it doesn't look like we got your registration information from the DPS, (or was it the DMV or DLP...I've only been able to remember the name of the place in Houston...oh, back to my story). You won't be able to vote today." After that, the conversation was rather short as there was nothing more to say. Handing the bright red phone back to the first kind lady, she told me that I wasn't this first person this had happened to today. Everybody had a cute sticker that says, "I voted!" and I didn't get one...even William and Emma got one.
We loaded back into the van, went back up the hill and drove back down the gravel road, waving hello to those raking in the yard. We all walked into the house from the back door and the day moved on.
Thus ends a much abbreviated story...I hope you didn't shed too many tears whilst reading it.
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That is so sad...:(
ReplyDeleteToday was a wonderful fall day the sun was out smiling on us, so we decided to walk down to where we needed to vote. After finding our names in "the binder" Nate, Mom and I voted. After fullfilling my duty as an American my family and I walked on over to the local Starbucks where we enjoyed our FREE Starbucks coffee (that they were handing out to anyone who voted.)
I hope you have a great day!!!! Miss you!
Bummer!! Sounds like that was happening all over the country though. It wasn't a very productive day all around... =(
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I dont think a move to Illinois from the Hector family is in the near future. As much as we enjoyed being out there, California is like a Venus Fly Trap. Now visits on the other hand we can definitely do!
Thomas
How horrible!!!!!! Bureaucracy can be very frustrating at times, and somehow, it never works in our favor! There were a couple people that we had to turn away today while I was working, but always because they had not registered at all.
ReplyDeleteYou must try again next time!
Close to tears,
BFH
That's awful! But what makes it even worse is thinking of all the people who were voting out by us who could hardly speak English well enough to spell their last name for the ladies behind the desk, or thinking of the deceased people who somehow voted... very sad.
ReplyDeleteMy friends, I think we have a bit of work ahead of us!
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteFor future reference, I just heard about provisional ballots (you can look them up on Wikipedia). Of course, they can just be a way to brush people off, but it gives you a possible chance to vote anyway.
How disappointing, though, to not be able to cast that ballot.
One positive note in all this mess: as of this morning, so far, Prop 8 is passing in California!! It is a very close race, so we shall see.
Blessings, Mrs.H
I ended up casting a provisional ballot, too, for the same reason. I filed for a change of address back in May, too!
ReplyDeleteAlso, about the Starbucks thing, I offer you this: Starbucks Modifies Election Day Free Coffee Offer After Inquiry
No, it wasn't May. It was February.
ReplyDeleteGrr.
Depend's on who you would have voted for... >;) JK!!
ReplyDeleteI now *exactly* how you feel, Tiffany! They misspelled my name down at the tax office, and sent me a letter long after the deadline for registration that they couldn't find a social security number for "Jasmine Bauchan." We jumped through hoops to get it all cleared up, but yesterday, when I got to the elementary school to vote, the woman behind the desk said my name wasn't on again!
ReplyDeleteIn the end, however, it all worked out, and I did get to vote.. Perhaps next year... :-)
AWWWWWWW that's tooo bad Tiffany!! Sorry to hear that! ;(
ReplyDeleteHope you all are well..we are enjoying this beautiful WARM weather and will be sad to see it go! Blessings!
Red,
ReplyDeleteI was pretty sad too...I'm sure if they'd only let me vote, the outcome would've been different...(yeah, I know...keep dreaming...;)) We've had such lovely weather out here (mid 70s...YEAH!!!!). Absolutely perfect...and then of course, they say it's going to rain and be cold by the end of the week...bummer. 'Twas sooo good to hear from you! Love to the family!
Thomas,
Really? Well, maybe they just picked people they knew where going to vote McCain and threw them out...just a theory, anyway. Well, I must say, getting lost in y'alls RV was rather entertaining...so I'm all up for visits. :)
Ben,
*sigh* It was quite deflating to watch as the rest of my family performed their duties as Americans whilst I sat by only able to watch. :( But, at least I had William and Emma to entertain me. :) And I'll be ready to boot our newest president out next time around. :)
Jessica,
Yes, you're right...we do have our work cut out for us.
Mrs. H.,
The first kind lady said something about provisional ballots, but she didn't really go into much detail. When the other kind lady at the courthouse in town said I couldn't vote, there wasn't much talk about what could be done...only long faces.
Mr. Ben-Ezra,
Oh, how aggravating! The people I spoke with asked me a few times if I was sure I hadn't moved since coming up here from Texas...I was quite sure. :)
Jeremiah,
You're just jealous because you couldn't have voted even if you wanted to! :)
Jasmine,
Wow...we must have some really intelligent people working out there...people who can't spell, update addresses and keep people in their systems!!! What is this world coming to?!?!? ;) Glad you were able to vote!
Anna,
Well, some carrot cake set me all up and I haven't really felt that bad about it since. :) And yes, this weather has been just perfect!!!! If only it could last. :( Looking forward to seeing y'all in December! Love ya!
Oh, sitnk!! You know, I kept wondering if something like that would happen to me. Here in Idaho, you don't have to show ANY identification or even a voter's registration. All you do is say your name and you have to give your address.
ReplyDeleteMe, I'm short and I do not look eighteen, so I am constantly fearful something would get complicated. But nothing did (and I had my State issued ID card anyway)
Glad I got to vote for McCain...even if he did lose.