del.icio.us(Last month, I went to Connecticut to volunteer for Ned Lamont on election day. Standing outside the polling place that afternoon, I met a poll worker named Luis, taking a break. He told me that he'd been voting in Democratic primaries for a long time, but that day, he couldn't vote - he was listed as "unaffiliated", and CT doesn't allow unaffiliated voters to vote in primaries. I asked if he could cast a provisional ballot, but his English was not great and I'm not sure he understood. He didn't want to press the issue - he just wasn't going to vote in this election.
Later, I met an organizer named Juan, who told me the town we were in had a history. Several years ago, in a contested Democratic primary for first selectman, many voters with hispanic last names found that they were unaffiliated, even though they had registered as Democrats. It was happening again, it seemed. Juan suggested I speak to his friend Fernando, and after hearing his story, I invited him to write it down for us.
Same Day Registration is the solution to problems like this, although Bill Galvin doesn't like it. -- Ofer Inbar)
The Connecticut primary on August 8, 2006 displayed to the nation the showdown between the current Connecticut Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman and his challenger for Connecticut Ned Lamont; two different views on the war in Iraq. I felt that although it was only the primary it was just as important as voting in the November elections; I wanted to be one of the many I hoped would show up to vote to voice my discontent with the current Republican government and Joe Lieberman. By voting for Ned Lamont I and so many others would now have a say as to what course we want to take with regard to Iraq.
After work I picked up my mother from work and headed to our local voting station and reported to the voters list table only to discover that my name was not on the list!
I tried all kinds of alternate addresses or possible misspellings of my name and they could not find me on their list. Finally someone behind the table said that I must not have registered to vote, to which I replied of course I have. I have changed my address only three times in the course of 10 years and each time I made it a point to re-register under my new address. I've been voting in Presidential, State, and Local elections without any problems.
They sent me to another table directing me to a man who called town hall for my registration status. He hung up the phone and told me that I was listed as unaffiliated.
- "What does that mean," I asked?
"You have to be a registered Democrat or Republican to vote," he said.
I told him that I have voted as a Democrat for over 10 years.
"Sorry," he said, "but that is what we have on you."
"So what does this mean then?"
"It means you can't vote, you'll have to wait for the next election."
My heart pounded with anger, angry that I was being told that I could not vote. I realized for the first time how important this right was to me, that this is an important election and I want to vote. I did not want to give up. The man told me that I could go to town hall.
I arrived at Town Hall and waited while a staff of 3 was busily answering phones and perusing their computers. Finally someone asked me if she could help me with anything. I then told her of my probem and she checked her computer. She read out my name and confirmed that I was unaffiliated, which I said was not true. She then read my address out loud - an old address since which I had moved several times. I swore to her that I had registered several times since then, and asked her to check my registration card. She went to another room and came back with an apology 5 minutes later.
She handed me a registration card that confirmed that I had registered in 1990 as unaffiliated with the address I had back then; everything matched the information on the computer. But clipped behind that card was a more recent registration card dated 2000, confirming my claim of being registered as a Democrat.
She apologized once again for the error, promised to change it on the computer as soon as possible, and said I could return to voting station and vote and she was going to call them to verify my status. Meanwhile, I could hear the phones ringing with people asking for confirmation of a voter's registration status.
I headed back to vote still feeling the stress from this ordeal. As I entered two Hispanic women were heading out after having gone to one of the tables and being denied for same reason I had been. After I voted my mother spoke with one of the Hispanic volunteers who told her that those ladies had the same issue but they were not going to bother, they were going back home. What scared me was the idea that people are being discouraged to vote because of a minor technicality or as in my case a big error; that is, if it was an error - the question will always be on my mind. It just seems to me that government should do what ever it takes to encourage citizens to vote and not to create obstacles.
