does my vote count ?
I voted in the November 2004 US Presidential election. I think.
I registered to vote for the 2004 election when I got my new Florida drivers license in December 2001. Leading up to the 2004 election, in order to receive an absentee ballot, I sent in a Federal Post Card Application. I never received a confirmation of my request and 4 weeks before the election I hadn't received my ballot. I called the supervisor of elections in Florida and was told that it was "on its way" and I should receive it shortly. That was 4 weeks before the election. It didn't make it before the election. While waiting for the ballot I came across a website run by Democrats that talked about the emergency write in ballot. This would allow me to cast a temporary ballot in place of the real ballot. This would get my vote in in time and I was to follow up this with my real ballot once I received it. I filled it out a week or so before the election, plenty of time to get it to my county supervisor of elections by the deadline 10 days after the Presidential Election.
Fast forward three and a half months and I'm left with a president I didn't vote for and I cannot say with any confidence that my vote counted. My real ballot never arrived and I'm left with really bad taste in my mouth about the whole election process. My entire life I watched the US election process run smooth and solidly inject confidence and support into our entire democratic system. For God's sake this was the foundation of our country ! I never had any doubt in the process or second guessed the outcome. Some years I was lucky enough to see my views represented, some years not. If my candidate lost I threw in the towel, supported the winner and moved on. Well, I can't do it with this election. I can't feel good about this election and move on without getting to the bottom of whether my vote was cast or not. I can't imagine I'm the only one with this feeling. On the top of my list of people to contact is my supervisor of elections, whose office never sent my ballot. I also would like to get in touch with Senator Hillary Clinton. I'm pretty impressed that Senators Clinton and Boxer, Representative Tubbs Jones and a few others have introduced to Congress a new bill, The Count Every Vote Act, that promises to reform the election process and make it easier to vote, implement standards and to make it more secure and less complicated. More to follow . . .
Fast forward three and a half months and I'm left with a president I didn't vote for and I cannot say with any confidence that my vote counted. My real ballot never arrived and I'm left with really bad taste in my mouth about the whole election process. My entire life I watched the US election process run smooth and solidly inject confidence and support into our entire democratic system. For God's sake this was the foundation of our country ! I never had any doubt in the process or second guessed the outcome. Some years I was lucky enough to see my views represented, some years not. If my candidate lost I threw in the towel, supported the winner and moved on. Well, I can't do it with this election. I can't feel good about this election and move on without getting to the bottom of whether my vote was cast or not. I can't imagine I'm the only one with this feeling. On the top of my list of people to contact is my supervisor of elections, whose office never sent my ballot. I also would like to get in touch with Senator Hillary Clinton. I'm pretty impressed that Senators Clinton and Boxer, Representative Tubbs Jones and a few others have introduced to Congress a new bill, The Count Every Vote Act, that promises to reform the election process and make it easier to vote, implement standards and to make it more secure and less complicated. More to follow . . .
