My Absentee Ballot Swallowed by Superstorm Sandy

I am a registered voter in New York State and tomorrow I will not vote.

For the second time in my life my absentee ballot has not arrived in the mail in time for me to vote. 

For the second time in my life I will spend Election Day not exercising my right as a US citizen because of the US mail.

The first time this happened to me was in 1992 during Clinton vs. Bush vs. Perot.  I was in California.  My absentee ballot arrived the day after Clinton won.

I am currently in Florida and I spent today waiting for the mail.  Absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election (today) in order to be counted.  Because of Hurricane Sandy absentee ballots don’t have to arrive back in New York until 13 days after the election BUT they must be postmarked by today.  The special hurricane  extention means squat because it’s obvious that what us NYers need is an extention on the postmark date.

I did all the right things.  I applied for an absentee ballot weeks in advance.  But Sandy knocked out lower Manhattan and my Board of Elections is on Varick Street.  The mail stopped in New York for three days entire days and was slowed down for another 7.  My absentee ballot is probably floating down the Hudson right now.

It was the right call to cancel the marathon.  But what about the election?  How are those without gas, food, homes going to vote? 

Today I called the Manhattan Board of Elections and was put on hold for 45 minutes.  I finally got through 4 minutes before they closed.  A very nice but obviously exhausted election employee told me that I was his last call and that, unfortunately, he didn’t work in the absentee section.  He looked up my name and confirmed that nope, no absentee ballot application from me had been received.  There was nothing he could do.

I started to cry.  I told him I was an activist and that I had spent 16 years of my life in a rubber gorilla mask touring the US and trying to inspire people to vote.  I was going to be pissed if I couldn’t vote for Obama.

“I can’t discuss politics” he replied.  All he could do was suggest that I go to a local board of elections in Florida and demand to submit a presidential ballot.  Apparently in New York State you can demand to vote during a presidential election if you can prove that it’s an emergency and you can’t vote anywhere else. 

Thanks, I’ll try that, I grunted. 

And then he broke his own rule.  “I’m voting for Romney,” he said. 

I wanted to kill him. 

Tomorrow I won’t be voting.  But I will be thinking of that guy manning the phones at the Manhattan Board of Elections. 

Don’t think for a second that your vote won’t count or that one vote doesn’t matter. 

Get out and vote.

-Aphra Behn 

ROLL CALL ON HEALTH CARE BILL

1) Dems who voted NO #HCR
Kucinich, Kratovil, Kosmas, Kissell, Holden, Herseth Sandlin, T. Edwards, L. Davis, A Davis, Childers, Chandler, Barrow, Bright, Boyd, Boucher, Boren, Boccieri, Baird, Altmire, Adler, Markey, Marshall, Massa, Matheson, McIntyre, McMahon, Melancon, S. Murphy, Minnick, Nye, Peterson, Ross, Shuler, Skelton, Tanner, Tylor, Teaque, Gordon, Griffith.

For complete voting list: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/votes/house/healthcare/index.html

NOTE: Women Dems who voted NO #HCR Kosmas, FL; Herseth Sandlin, SD; Markey, CO.

2) DEMS who voted YES on STUPAK amendment to restrict women’s rights.

Altmire, Baca, Barrow, Berry, Bishop, Boccieri, Boren, Bright, Cardoza, Carney, Chandler, Childers, Cooper, Costa, Costello, Cuellar, Dahlkemper, A. Davis, Donnelly, Doyle, Driehaus, Ellsworth, Etheridge, Gordon, Griffith, Hill, Holden Kanjorski, Kaptur, Kildee, Langevin, Lipinski, Lynch, Marshall, Matheson, McIntyre, Melancon, Michaud, Mollohan, Murtha, Neal, Oberstar, Obey, Ortiz, Perriello, Peterson, Pomeroy, Rahall, Reyes, Rodriguiz, Ross, Ryan.

3) DEMS who voted YES on STUPAK and NO on #HCR – what was the point???

Altmire, Boccieri, Boren, Bright, Chandler, Childers, A. Davis, Gordon, Griffith, Marshall, Matheson, McIntyre, Melancon, Peterson

For complete list: http://www.openleft.com/diary/15915/dems-who-voted-for-the-stupak-amendment-to-restrict-womens-rights

A public service message from Guerrilla Girls On Tour!

Phew!!!

Election day is done. A conclusion has been reached. It is a good one. I started the day reading a quote on a daily website of Lake District photos, saying how men and women win elections more for who we vote against then who we vote for. It reminded me of how aware the world is that the Americans were at the polls and that this time around there was someone to vote for. And that made all the difference.

My favorite photo of the day was my Republican (from Ohio) friends' photo of himself casting his vote for Democrat Barack Obama - though I'm not sure he should have photo'd in the booth.

I came across one person who didn't vote. Tsk. Tsk. And, really.

I didn't partake in the freebies, but I didn't poo-poo either. Yesterday definitely had an air of the festive with people on the streets going off to parties and bars well into the night. Let it rock on, I say, and good stuff.

The longest wait to vote I heard - one and a half hours. (Just after 9 AM.)

I am disappointed in the passing of bans to gay marriage.

I applaud South Dakota for again supporting a woman's right to choose.

Congratulations to Beverly Perdue, North Carolina's first female Governor.

I thought the president-elect's victory speech had a delightful ring of Shakespeare's Henry V.

I am really looking forward to such an intelligent, articulate President. I have complete confidence in his ability to lead us through such a difficult time. And I am sad that at such a glorious time in his life, there is also such grief.

Well done America!

Edith Evans
www.ggontour.com
© 2008

My Vote Mattered

Last night, I asked my roommate if he voted. I thought it would be nice for us to watch the results together. His response was SHOCKING. He did NOT vote. He was not even registered! "It's just not my thing", he said. What?!? What?!? I literally saw spots. I couldn't even bare to look at him. "It's not your thing?" I said. "I just doesn't seem that important. He's already going to win. My vote doesn't matter." I immediately went into my speech....

"We, as black people, as American's, must always exercise our right to vote. We were granted voting rights in the 1860's, but it was not until 1965, when Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, that we were actually allowed to vote. For one hundred years we were threatened, murdered, and taxed to keep us from polls. Literacy tests were created to stop us from having a voice. We fought dogs, and fire hoses! And you, a black man, on the brink of the most important election in history, are not going to exercise the right that our people fought so hard for? (FYI, I have a similar speech for women who don't vote)?"

Well, he said nothing. Just continued to take out the trash. He probably thinks I'm crazy. I don't really care. I just don't understand how anyone would not want to be a part of history. Oh well! We won without him!

Josephine Baker
www.ggontour.com
©2008