Where is my ballot? My right to vote? MIA.
I live in Los Angeles, California. I vote by mail. I am a permanent vote-by-mail registered voter and have been for decades. My voting status is supposed to be permanent and automatic, every election they mail me my ballot. I always got my ballot several weeks (or months) before an election and voted early, sending in my ballot by mail. Now, in 2016, it's one week before the Presidential Election on November 8th, perhaps one of the most important elections in the history of the United States, and I still haven't gotten my ballot in the mail! Where's my ballot?
I vote early, by mail. It's convenient; I avoid the hassles of driving to the polls, finding a place to park and standing in line, possibly for hours, to cast my vote. Yet, in 2016 I can't do that - I can't vote by mail - because voting officials in California have not sent me my mail-in ballot! Why not? I don't know. I don't even know who to call. I tried to look that up on the internet and still don't know if not being mailed my ballot is a local problem, a county problem, a state problem or a federal issue. It's the government, they don't make it simple and easy to do ANYTHING! I checked an official voting site online and I am listed as a current qualified vote-by-mail voter. Where's my mail-in ballot???
OK, so I have not received my mail-in ballot. Why don't I just physically go to my local polling place and vote? The nearest polling place to me is not even in Los Angeles, it's in another city (North Hollywood), miles away from me. For me it's somewhat inconvenient and parking might be a big problem there. And just days before the election, I caught a bad cold and can barely leave my bed let alone go to the polling place miles away. Plus, right now I also have a bad leg, and can't walk far or stand in line very long. According to MyNewsLA on November 5, "Voters turned out in unexpectedly high numbers this weekend for early voting in six Los Angeles County locations, and officials said some polling places had long lines forcing waits of up to two hours." I want my mail-in ballot. I want to vote early. The whole point of voting by mail is CONVENIENCE!
As a native-born American citizen and a longtime resident of Los Angeles, suddenly - for the first time in my adult life - as a voter, I feel disenfranchised. It looks like I will not receive my ballot in the mail in time to vote by mail, or will never receive my mail-in ballot at all. Are government bureaucrats in L.A. purposely restricting, or taking away, my ability to vote by mail or are they just incompetent? Either way, it's unacceptable. And unAmerican.
Besides voting for President and a State Senator there are also 17 local and statewide propositions on the ballot, all of which I want to vote on.
I am a current, qualified voter, permanently registered to vote by mail. I diligently did my voting homework and am ready to cast my vote, by mail. Where's my mail-in ballot? I didn't get one. Where is it? I don't know, all I know is that I don't have it. And I don't know why I don't have it, and can't find out why I don't have it. I am a legal U.S. citizen, and a legal California resident, and am a registered voter who is being disenfranchised. This is a serious breach of my rights and my freedom as an American.
UPDATE:
On Friday, November 4, four days before the 2016 Presidential election, I got a postcard in the mail from the Los Angeles Registrar/County Clerk's office. It sort of explained perhaps why I had not gotten my mail-in ballot. The postcard stated they did not send a mail-in ballot to me due to a too-short time frame "... based on the official notification that you have moved." What? I have NOT moved and, in fact, have lived at the same exact address for over 25 years! And the postcard even showed that correct and current address on it, that's why it was in my mailbox! For some unfathomable reason the voting rolls listed me as having moved. To add more fuel to the fire, the postcard also listed a different assigned polling place for me than their official website had assigned me. The postcard listed my assigned polling place as not being in Los Angeles where I live, and not being in North Hollywood where their website said was the nearest polling place, but listed my assigned polling place as being in some church in yet another neighboring city: Burbank.
On the postcard I found a phone number and was actually able to speak to a representative in the Registrar/County Clerk office on November 5, 3 days before the election. He confirmed that, yes, I was currently registered as a qualified mail-in voter and told me to "disregard" the postcard. I asked him, "Where is my ballot?" He replied, "I don't know." I asked him if I was going to get my mail-in ballot for the 2016 Presidential Election. He said, "No". I asked him if I was ever going to find out why I did not get my mail-in ballot. He said, "No".
The whole 2016 voting thing has been a nightmare. It's now November 7, one day before the election and I never got my mail-in ballot. I am confused. I am angry. I am screwed. And I have been deprived of my right to vote by mail.
Perhaps it's time Americans voted by cell phone or internet. Yeah, I'd vote for that.
