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View Full Version : Frustrated at the Banana Republic of California




rp08orbust
01-23-2008, 03:01 AM
This year I was going to do everything right: In December I called the Orange County Republican Party, explained that I live in Australia, that I tried to vote in the 2004 election but that I never got a ballot, and that I therefore wanted to make sure I registered correctly this time. The guy directed me to a form at the Secretary of State's website, which I filled out with him still on the phone so I could make sure I was answering everything correctly. I submitted the online form. A couple weeks later, on January 8, I got my voter registration card in the mail, signed it and mailed it back to the Santa Ana address on the card via International Express the same day. On January 10 I called Australia Post and confirmed that it had arrived at LAX (they couldn't track it from there) as promised.

So yesterday (which was the 23rd here) I called to make sure I was registered after getting an email from Holly Clearman reminding Californians of the deadline. The Orange County elections office in Santa Ana HAS NO RECORD OF MY REGISTRATION!!! They searched by address, surname, drivers license, birthday--no match.

I am insanely pissed off. It's frustrating enough not being able to sign wave etc, but now I can't even vote for the guy after looking forward to sending a scanned image of my ballot for Ron Paul to all my family and relatives in the US.

I am kicking myself for not calling on Saturday to confirm, which would have allowed me a day to submit another voter registration card (it had to be post-marked on the 22nd and I could not talk the post office into using US dates when stamping my form). I'm not sure how I would have had any better luck with a third attempt to register though. I'm also kicking myself for not starting the process earlier--I've been following the campaign since Ron Paul announced he was running a year ago--how pathetic! (I was even in CA in October and it never occurred to me to register in person.)

Kalash
01-23-2008, 03:11 AM
I just moved to LA county from Orange county...

I changed my registration while I was down there, filled out a voter registration form in Burbank when I got up here in Nov....

Hadn't gotten anything, so I called today and they didn't have a record of me either.

Maybe it's a glitch.
I dunno.

I went to the post office and filled out/send another registration form today.

Hopefully it's just the computers and you'll get your ballot...

electronicmaji
01-23-2008, 03:12 AM
Well your fucked man CA has one of the most transparent, fair and trustworthy voter systems in the country...

Fields
01-23-2008, 03:21 AM
Take it to the higher ups. Start shooting out emails and calling. That's a disgrace considering I was reading about how Americans abroad can now vote from their computers, although I'd be kind of skeptical of that.

Joe3113
01-23-2008, 03:23 AM
This year I was going to do everything right: In December I called the Orange County Republican Party, explained that I live in Australia, that I tried to vote in the 2004 election but that I never got a ballot, and that I therefore wanted to make sure I registered correctly this time. The guy directed me to a form at the Secretary of State's website, which I filled out with him still on the phone so I could make sure I was answering everything correctly. I submitted the online form. A couple weeks later, on January 8, I got my voter registration card in the mail, signed it and mailed it back to the Santa Ana address on the card via International Express the same day. On January 10 I called Australia Post and confirmed that it had arrived at LAX (they couldn't track it from there) as promised.

So yesterday (which was the 23rd here) I called to make sure I was registered after getting an email from Holly Clearman reminding Californians of the deadline. The Orange County elections office in Santa Ana HAS NO RECORD OF MY REGISTRATION!!! They searched by address, surname, drivers license, birthday--no match.

I am insanely pissed off. It's frustrating enough not being able to sign wave etc, but now I can't even vote for the guy after looking forward to sending a scanned image of my ballot for Ron Paul to all my family and relatives in the US.

I am kicking myself for not calling on Saturday to confirm, which would have allowed me a day to submit another voter registration card (it had to be post-marked on the 22nd and I could not talk the post office into using US dates when stamping my form). I'm not sure how I would have had any better luck with a third attempt to register though. I'm also kicking myself for not starting the process earlier--I've been following the campaign since Ron Paul announced he was running a year ago--how pathetic! (I was even in CA in October and it never occurred to me to register in person.)

Where are you in Australia :) ?

rp08orbust
01-23-2008, 03:36 AM
Take it to the higher ups. Start shooting out emails and calling. That's a disgrace considering I was reading about how Americans abroad can now vote from their computers, although I'd be kind of skeptical of that.

I might make some more calls tomorrow, but I'm not sure what I can accomplish by phone: they'll either find my registration card and send me a ballot or they won't.

They kept asking me what address I mailed it to because apparently there are multiple addresses in Orange County. I couldn't tell them because I didn't make a photocopy of the card I mailed them (not to self in 2012: write down all addresses before mailing stuff)--I assumed they printed the correct addresses on their own forms. I called the Secretary of State's office to see if they had a record of the online form I filled out in a database somewhere but they denied having any such records. The SoS couldn't even guarantee that the address was in OC and not Sacramento, so it looks like I'm pretty screwed--the county can blame the state, and the state can blame the county.

rp08orbust
01-23-2008, 03:38 AM
Where are you in Australia :) ?

Eastern suburb of Melbourne.