HELP! Marion County Voter Registration-

[IndianaGreen]

I got a card like the one described by following e-mails that I received. How about you?

E-mail #1:

I just got a postcard from the Marion County Board of Voters Registration and I do NOT like the looks of it.

The instructions are to fill it out either confirming or correcting your registration address, SIGN IT and return to the City County building, postage paid. Now I took a closer look at this thing, and the signature block on this card gives them authorization to CANCEL your registration! If anyone on the list has contact with bigwigs in the local Party, please get them on this NOW, before we lose voters we need!

E-mail #2:

WHOA! I got one of those cards, too. If you look closely at the fine print it appears to say that if you do NOTHING (by not returning the card) AND don't vote in the 2004, 2005, AND 2006 elections, only THEN can your name be removed from the voter rolls. It looks like the safest thing to do is to just chuck the card and be sure to vote in upcoming elections, unless you've moved to a new address. This really is no change from previous rules that strike your name eventually if you don't vote AND don't reregister sometime in the next three years.

For people that have moved and acknowledge that they have when they go to vote but haven't previously changed their address with the Election Board, THEN that person can be denied the opportunity to vote this year. So, if you've moved and the card has been forwarded to you be sure to send in the card with the address change, or, if you know you've moved since you've last voted but haven't received a card, go to the Election Board to re-register or you may lose your chance to vote. That's my reading of the cards.

[salin]

1. This has to do with no mechanism

in the state for taking people who have moved off of the rolls. In places where there is not high mobility this may not be an issue. However in places of high mobility - carrying people on the rolls who have not lived there for years - carries a huge price tag. The state determines the number of polling places based on the number of registered voters (makes sense) - each polling place requires five paid people - an inspector and two judges and two clerks. The number of machines required at a precinct is also determined by the number of folks registered in the area. Those who register stay on the rolls whether or not they still live there. If one registers in another part of the state, then the name is removed from the roll. If instead one registers in another state - there is no communication record and you remain on the registered voting list.

So in Bloomington - a city of about 70,000 and 35,000+ (transient) college students the result of motor/voter has been a huge inflation (I think I read that it might be up to 40%?) of the number of registered voters. We have precincts that must be fully manned, but get only 2 voters. I guess that the state came up with a multi-year fix: determine those who haven't voted (over a period of a series of elections), then try to contact directly those who have registered but have not voted for several years - and get verification that you still live in the precinct.

Of the longevity of registrations in Indiana... I had last voted around 1988 - in Bloomington. I since lived in two other states, registering and voting in both of those places. When I returned to Indiana, and went to the courthouse to register, I learned that I was still on the rolls, even though I hadn't lived here for more than ten years and had registered to vote elsewhere.

Not justifying it - but explaining how I "see" the issue based on local news coverage, working the polls in bloomington, and personal experience.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Marion County Democrats are checking the legality of card

Additional e-mail traffic on this:

E-mail #3: I filled one of those cards out and sent it in. Thanks for reading the small print. I’m going to double check and make sure I’m still registered before the deadline for registrations ends.

This is going to be the dirtiest election in the history of the United States. What happened in Florida in 2000 is going to be kids stuff compared to the widespread cheating that goes on this time.

E-mail #2: It seems I'm not the only one on the ball. I got a call from the State Dem Party this afternoon letting me know the County Dems were checking into it, and another response offlist saying there is investigation happening.

Tell your neighbors and friends not to return the card UNLESS they ARE changing addresses. If not your registration is in no danger by not sending it in.

[salin]

3. caveat on the last item

your registration is not in danger if you don't send it in... AND IF YOU VOTE!!!!!!!!!! That small print language is troublesome - and is mucks up the waters a great deal. However, as I understand it in Monroe County (though I haven't read the card), the focus is on people who are registered but have not voted in multiple elections - so... ignore the card... but remember to go vote!

[PVnRT]

5. Very true

I moved to Chicago in 2001, and when I moved back here a year later, I was still registered in my precinct.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Update: Ill-designed postcard leaves voters puzzled (Indianapolis Star)

Ill-designed postcard leaves voters puzzled
August 12, 2004

Our position is:More thought should have gone into the design of a recent voter questionnaire.

If you are still scratching your head over a postcard-sized questionnaire sent to Marion County voters, you're not alone. The postcard, meant to clear up problems with the voter registration rolls, was so poorly designed that it created widespread confusion.

Voters were supposed to check one of three boxes on the postcard indicating if the card was sent to their current address, previous address, or an address where they had never lived.

Aside from the fact that if they received the postcard, it was probably mailed to their current address, there was considerable confusion over whether to sign it. On one side of the card it said: "You must sign the return postcard for it to be effective."

But on the other side, in fine print it explained that by signing the form, "I authorize my voter registration at the previous address(es) marked above where I no longer live to be cancelled."

http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/169494-4855-104.html

[LiberalFighter]

6. Post office should return the cards if the addressee is not living there

That could eliminate many on the roll including deceased.

My analysis of the voter registration problem is that individual counties are failing to maintain the voter registration files. Even if they don't have computerized files they should be able to determine that it is a re-registration and not a new registration.

I have come across many registered voters where the only difference is that their name is a different version. Jeff instead of Jeffery.. Jeffrey L instead of Jeffrey. Any dufus should be able to determine that they are the same person when their date of birth is the same.

Another problem are women that get married and the surname changes. I think I came across the same woman with 3 different registrations with different surnames but the same first name and date of birth.

Personally I would like to see dupes and non-voters removed from the roll. Or at least the dupes. Maybe the non-voters just would not be counted when determining the size of the precincts and the need for voting machines.