I AM TOTALLY PISSED!

[RoadRage]

Ugh. Today is voting day for Mayor in the city of Omaha. So, I hop in my car and drive the 3 minutes to my polling place only to find it closed :wtf: ??

I go back home, hop online and type in the "where to vote" on the douglas county website - and it says that my address does not get to participate in today's race. Our mailing address is "Omaha, NE", but the city hasn't technically annexed my sub-division yet (and who knows when they will).. so I don't get to vote for the flipping mayor.

And the race is VERY VERY VERY Close.. within 2% points. Hal Daub vs. Jim Suttle.. Daub is a creepy Republican who was voted out 4 years ago and only lost by 400 or so votes. Now he's running again against a new guy who needs all of the votes he can get because he is going against name recognition.

How can I live in a city with the city NAME in my mailing address, but not get to vote for mayor?

UGHGHGHGHG.

[NMDemDist2]

1. my address was "Glendale, AZ" but I lived in the Phoenix city lines

and voted in Phoenix city elections

it's just a matter of which post office delivers your mail

[babylonsister]

2. Same for me here. I live in Houston, but am a few blocks

away from their imaginary lines, so I can't vote for mayor either. x(

[Captain Hilts]

3. Why is this in the 'presidential' forum?

[Kaleva]

21. wrong address maybe

[rateyes]

4. If it hasn't been annexed, then you don't live in the city.

And, if you own property, then your taxes go to a different governmental body than the city. I have a city address, as does just about everyone in the country, but my house isn't inside city limits. I pay county taxes and get to vote for county offices, but I don't get to vote in any city elections.

[Perky]

6. Exactly... And rember. ZIP Code boundary do not conform to city boundaries,

So your mailing address is defined by USPS not the city and not the county.

[RoadRage]

10. Yup.. that was actually why I was so confused at first..

We moved 2 years ago into our new house - but it IS in the same zipcode as the old house.. and we did get to vote for mayor when we lived there. City Lines / County Lines / USPS Lines are evidently not all the same. Lesson Learned.. but it is still aggrivating to see that a lot of what your tax dollars will end up supporting (via sales tax, occupancy tax, etc.) is somthing you don't get a voice in!

[Perky]

14. But by the same token if it were Sales tax based city dwellers would be damaged

by sapping thier votring strength with suburban voters.


SHould they get a say on Land Use in your neighborhood because they frequent Tour local mall?

[RoadRage]

19. Actually.. they do..

All of the malls & high-end shopping is out west in the "suburbs".. and there was a big problem with our tax dollars going into those shops, and only being distributed to the upperclass suburban schools, and the OPS schools were becoming very urban, (lower class), and lower quality - so they passed a learning community law about 3 years ago so that all taxes are distributed equally out of that area into all school districts.

It's actually something I totally agree with - quality education for everyone is a VERY good thing.. but it did piss off the wealthy suburbanites who don't get to vote in these elections, but who's tax dollars are now being shipped back to the inner-city to educate minority kids.

Honestly, I was just confused about why I wasn't able to vote earlier today.. this post cleared it up - I see this happens everywhere now. I just didn't understand at first why moving 1 mile in the same zipcode caused me to not be able to vote today. But, I get it now!

[RoadRage]

8. Yeah.. i pay county taxes.. city taxes would actually be lower.

Ugh.. we moved 2 years ago, so this is my first time voting for mayor from this address.. so i'm just a little bit riled. Probably because the race is close too... if it wasn't going to matter I wouldn't care so much.. but this time it actually might.

Oh well.. back to pouting through my keyboard. :)

[sazemisery]

5. My mail is addressed to "Muskogee, OK", and...

I own a business right across from City Hall, but since I live in the county, I am not allowed to vote for mayor, city council or any tax increases. Sucks doesn't it?

[Perky]

9. No Not really.

Voting is bases on residency not where one works. Coul you imagine what would happen to urban politics if suburban voters got to vote for mayor?

[RoadRage]

12. Yeah..

I actually mentioned that to my husband when I called him and told him he doesn't get to vote today. I said the only silver lining was that everyone with a Republican "Hal Daub" sign in their yard won't get to vote for him today either.. and there are probably a lot more Daub voters out in my neck of the woods then Suttle voters.. so maybe that's a positive. ;)

[Drunken Irishman]

15. I don't think it sucks...

More people work in Salt Lake City than live here and I'll be damned if I want them voting for my mayor if you're going to leave the city after five.

[zulchzulu]

7. Call your local radio or TV station NOW

See if you can report it and say you are being kept from participating in a basic democratic right. Something smells with this...

[Perky]

11. OH PLease. the OP is not a resident of the City, It really is that simple,

They are not being denied anything. THey are not entitled to vote where they donot live

[Drunken Irishman]

13. If you're not in the city, you're not in the city.

Some of my family lives in Kearns, Utah, which is unincorporated Salt Lake County and their mailing address can read Sat Lake City, but they're not in Salt Lake.

They can't vote for mayor and frankly, I'm glad. Most those people out there would totally ruin a good thing we have going here.

That's one reason why I hope SLC never annexes some of its suburbs, because -- unless it's So. Salt Lake or Magna -- they're all right-wing assholes out there and they would poison our great liberal community with their crappy ideology.

[Pirate Smile]

16. I used to live in Denver but my mailing address said Aurora. I got to vote in the Denver elections.

Since you don't actually live in Omaha, it certainly makes sense that you don't get to vote in their local elections.

Sorry, but its true.

[peace13]

17. High tail it over to your candidates campaign office and offer to volunteer.

Even if you can't vote , you can do something to help! The day is still young. Peace, Kim

[grantcart]

18. Developers build on the edges of the city to avoid city regulation and taxes

In some cases it also means that you will not be protected by a full time professional fire service but by a volunteer force instead.

[RoadRage]

20. Yup..

that is totally true.. we have a small community fire dept that is volunteer that covers us now.. across 1 major street and the city would cover us!

But, our taxes are actually higher due to the S.I.D. - we are basically paying for the new streets, sewers, light posts, sidewalks, etc. in the neighborhood. When that's all paid off.. usually the city will sweep in and annex us... That's the way it goes, I suppose.

[centristgrandpa]

22. absentee ballot

i use the absentee mail-in ballot without any problems so far (10 years).