Clusterf@ck to the Polls

On the day I was naturalized and became a U.S. Citizen, we came home from the citizenship ceremony and I registered to vote online.

I’d researched what I needed to do online, bookmarked the registration site, and called the King County Elections office to confirm that, as a first time voter, I was doing what I needed to to ensure I’d be on the voter roll for this crucial election.

It seemed so simple and straightforward.  I register online at the state site and the registration is sent to my local county office where it is checked and then added to the voter database. 

With the voter registration deadline approaching I checked each day to see when my name appeared in the voter database.  After 13 days checking the online site and no sight of my registration, I called the King County Elections office.  They checked the voter registration system and sure enough they hadn’t seen my registration.  They recommended that if I wanted to vote in this coming election (duh) I head down to their office in Renton to register in person tout de suite.

I left work early that same day and headed down to Renton, anxious that I not miss my chance to vote in this most extraordinary election.  The place was humming with activity and I spoke with a pleasant but clearly overworked woman about my situation. 

I told her that I’d just become a citizen and had registered to vote online the same day.  I explained how important is to be able to vote in person since this is the last chance I’ll get given that we are transitioning to mail only voting.  She took my drivers license and confirmed that I was not in their system and told me I’d need to fill in another voter registration form.

I filled in the new registration form and returned it to the counter and was told that I’d get an absentee ballot in the mail.  I reminded the elections official that I didn’t want an absentee ballot and was told that I didn’t have a choice. The Poll Books had already been printed so I was just too late. Disappointed that I wasn’t going to be able to vote in person I shrugged my shoulders and consoled myself that it’s the vote that counts, no how you make it.

Having already had my registration go missing once, I asked for some kind of paperwork to show that I’d registered before I’d leave their office.  The elections official looked at me with an exasperated expression normally reserved for recalcitrant teenagers and conceded to print me a Voter Registration card which would take 20 minutes.  I agreed and, I think, annoyed that the additional wait didn’t deter me, she set about getting me my voter registration card.   In the fullness of time, and card in hand I headed home.

In a few days the absentee ballot arrived and a few days after that I received another Voter Registration card.  Comparing them I noted that they had the same registration number, so it wasn’t a duplication, but some of the details were different.  Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I called King County Elections to check.

The woman I spoke to took told me that my original (online) registration didn’t get into the King County system until 15 days later – just a few days after I trekked to Renton to register in person.  I wasn’t registered twice as they had matched the two registrations up but I was still down as an Absentee Voter despite my preference to the contrary. 

I explained the whole tale and she said that I didn’t have to be an absentee voter for this election and could have voted at the polls. The other elections official had given me incorrect information.  According to her, the poll books hadn’t been printed at that stage and even if they had been my name would turn up on the supplemental sheets.

She updated my voter registration to show that I was voting in person at my local polling place and told me to shred the absentee ballot I’d been issued telling me that the changes she had made had invalidated it.  I checked one more time, asking if she was sure that I’d be on the voter roll and able to vote at my polling place – I didn’t want to be stuck with a provisional ballot.  She assured me that I would be on the roll.

I thanked her, hung up the phone and took a deep breath… and exhaled trying to expel the disquiet I felt.  

Time passed.

This morning I presented myself at my polling place and after a pleasant wait of 30 minutes or so the line snaked forward and I checked in with a decidedly cranky woman in a knitted cap (cause and effect?) to find … that I was not on the voter roll and would have to cast a provisional ballot.

You have . to be f*cking . kidding me.

After spending 7-8 hours of my time to ensure that I’d be registered to vote by today, it appears I may not be.

According to the Elections Division of the Secretary of State I am registered, but I have to take it up with King County.

Now I’m left to wonder if my vote will be counted at all.