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November26, 2004
When your vote doesn't count
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Lisa-Jean Mugler Opinions Editor |
After voting in the recent election, I was left seething with anger and indignation, frustrated, and very much ready to vow that I will never vote again. And that is NOT because Bush won.
My husband and I registered to vote at the same time through the Arizona Department Of Transportation (ADOT) website.
As the years have gone by, I have adjusted my party to reflect my beliefs.
So, finally, in March, I bit the bullet and admitted to the voter registration board that I am really, truly a Libertarian.
Back when I was an Independent, I received my voter registration card in the mail at the same time as my husband received his Republican voter card.
This year my husband received his (still) Republican voter card, but there was no card for me. So, I waited.
I waited until September.
Then, deciding that maybe there was a glitch, I went online- through the Secretary of State site, which, of course, steered me right back to the ADOT site.
Being unaccountably optimistic, I RE-re-registered, leaving enough time to still get my little card before voting day. It never happened, but being optimistic, we went to vote and I brought my old Independent card and Driver’s License.
My husband, standing beside me, was given his ballot, no problem. The lady flipped back and forth, looking frantically for my name, but she never found it.
Finally, I was told to vote with a provisional ballot. I told them (nicely, I think) that I was mad, and that it was not right for me to be forced to vote provisionally.
I began wondering how many people like me there were, first in Arizona, then in this country.
Next day, watching the returns for Arizona, I realized that there had not been enough time for my vote to be counted. Arizona was declared a republican state WITHOUT MY INPUT.
In Arizona, for the 2000 election, there were 200,000 provisional ballots out of a registered voter pool of 2.1 million. In this election, there were an estimated 60,000 provisional ballots in Maricopa county alone.
I am angry now, at how many thousands of us there are whose vote did NOT matter in this election, and now we will have to bear the consequences of other people’s votes, knowing that our votes did not count, and our voices were not heard.
I think we’ve been officially marginalized. Makes me want to stomp on something crunchy.
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