Tuesday, March 4, 2008

My Civic Duty will be Counted in 10 Days

I might have mentioned that here in Ohio we take voting seriously and after a few elections with hours-long lines and some shady outcomes, we get a little cranky when it seems our votes aren't counted. In fact, I'm still pretty sure that that absentee ballot I sent in 2000 never got counted, but I'm not really one to hold a grudge. Unless I get pissed off again, because then it is all over...

This morning I conveniently schedule a coffee meeting with a client near my polling place. So after Starbucks and an explanation of what I do, I stopped by the church where I vote. Thankfully, there was no line and things were looking good. Until I pulled out my driver's license which has my maiden-married name on it. I chose to use both last names (no hyphen) after getting married. While I don't really care what name you call me, officially I have two last names. One of which, is technically and clearly, my maiden name. This last name is what I was registered to vote with. And, hello, it is still on my official identification. And I live at the same place as the last time I voted. You think maybe, just maybe, I am still me? No, not according to the poll workers who told me I had to fill out a provisional ballot which wouldn't be counted for 10 days and then only if I could prove I was me. What?! I already showed you the official identification, I have nothing more. Over lunch I called the Franklin County Board of Elections where a nice lady with a cold told me that I should have been allowed to vote in the conventional manner. That's nice, but a little late in the game here, as I had already dropped my provisional ballot into the very official looking cardboard box. Evidently now, my vote will be counted with no further proving it's me and the BOE is going to call the polling place to explain that getting married does not mean women are not allowed to vote on the electronic machines. And while I'm still somewhat confused as to why I couldn't vote, as far as I can tell my vote will be counted in 10 days; which I don't think will be in time to save Hillary. I'll be happy to vote for Obama come November.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, at least you voted! More than I can say...