voting really shouldn’t be this hard
i requested my absentee ballot a while ago, but had been waiting, waiting, waiting for it to arrive. i heard through the grapevine that massachusetts was late sending out their absentee ballots, and that if we didn’t receive them by the second week of october, to use the federal write in absentee ballot to ensure it got sent in in time to be counted.
so i was waiting, waiting, waiting. then, i ended up unexpectedly booking a trip home for the first week in november. fantastic, i thought – i’ll just vote while i’m home! someone told me to double check the rules, luckily, and in doing so i discovered that because i am no longer a resident of the u.s., i can only vote by absentee ballot. bah.
then, this tuesday, just as i was getting ready to use the write in option, my ballot finally arrived. i carefully marked my selection, took it down to the post office the next day, had it weighed, and got an airmail stamp. i noticed that the envelope, despite having the address in big bold letters written across 80% of the surface, did not specify “u.s.a.”, so i took out a marker and added that, circling it. then i posted it. hooray!
today, as i was cleaning, the postman arrived. what should slide through my letterbox onto the hallway carpet? that’s right, my ballot. ignoring the big bold address and giant circled “u.s.a.” and airmail sticker, the postman had instead decided to use the teen-tiny pre-printed return address label in the upper left corner. yes, i went through all that trouble and paid £1.22 to post a presidential ballot to myself.
now, i know that the u.k. doesn’t generally use return addresses, but come on. and did i mention the big bold address and giant circled “u.s.a.”??! surely anybody with eyes could see where it was intended to go.
i was not best pleased, then, to have to spend my saturday morning queueing at the post office to mail my ballot *again*. let’s hope it actually makes it there this time.
all i have to say is the outcome better be worth it.
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Comment by Iota
18.10.2008 @ 17:15 pm
Good on you for making the effort.
Comment by noble savage
18.10.2008 @ 18:45 pm
that’s so ridiculous that it’s funny. not that it was to you, who had to go post it again…
mine still hasn’t arrived so if it’s not here by monday i will be using the federal ballot too. i just hope it gets there in time and counted.
Comment by Jen
18.10.2008 @ 19:00 pm
especially where you’re from a swing state!!
Comment by vanessa
20.10.2008 @ 00:12 am
FYI- I’m around when you are here. I keep forgeting to tell you that. email me again. the dates. let’s make a plan.
xoxo
Comment by Tim
20.10.2008 @ 11:48 am
I find myself in the same circumstance. Who the hell made up the rules for the federal write in ballot to put an OVERSEAS address in the UPPER LEFT CORNER!!!! Anyone trying to make up legislation for overseas voters who has not left the United States is not qualified for the job. I guess since we put a return address in the upper left the whole world must do the same thing.
Comment by Jen
20.10.2008 @ 21:30 pm
no kidding tim! the lady at the p.o. tried to give me a lecture about the return address, and i was all, “hey, i didn’t put it on there lady!”
Comment by Vol Abroad
21.10.2008 @ 21:18 pm
I think the whole darn world SHOULD be putting the return address in the upper left hand corner. For goodness sake, it just.makes.sense.
Anyway, sorry you’re having such a difficult time, especially after I seemed to have had no difficulty and officially returned a “none of the above” via a slip of note paper.
If it makes you feel any better, your state’s not really in play. Although mine may be. How ’bout that?
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22.10.2008 @ 18:18 pm
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