Melissa
Kaplan's
Herp Care Collection
Last updated
April 19, 2007
Quick Answers to Vexing Voting Questions
Or, what our schools should be teaching but don't.
©2004 Melissa Kaplan
1. Where
do I go to vote?
2. Why can't I go into any precinct to vote?
3. Why isn't my assigned precinct in the same place every
year?
4. Why didn't I get any information from the Registrar
of Voters this time?
5. How come I'm not listed with my new (old) name?
6. I moved since the last election - why can't I
vote at my old precinct?
7. Where do I find my assigned precinct?
8. Where did my old polling place go?!
9. Why is the precinct I'm assigned to now so much
farther from my home/so crowded?
10. How do I get an absentee ballot?
11. What if I got an absentee ballot but I decide
I want (or can) to go into my precinct and vote?
12. What if I just want to vote on some of the offices
and issues, but not all of them?
1.
Where do I go to vote?
To your assigned precinct. Every registered voter is assigned to a specific
precinct in the area in which they live. Precincts aren't made up of just
a specific geographic area bordered by certain streets, or by any specific
number of voters (though all the ones I've volunteered at seem to range
in the neighborhood of 600-800 registered voters each).
2.
Why can't I go into any precinct to vote?
Numerous districts are superimposed on any geographical area. Many districts
have different boundaries than other districts. For example, the school
districts may overflow the congressional districts, which may be different
than the city council districts, which are different than the county supervisor
districts, which are different from the state assembly districts. When
you throw transportation districts and vector control districts into the
mix, you end up with a hodgepodge of boundaries, all of which have to
be taken into account when figuring out which precinct each voter is assigned
to.
3.
Why isn't my assigned precinct in the same place every year?
Because district boundaries change as congressional and other district
boundaries get moved around due to updated population censuses, re-districting,
etc. This is why it is critical that you keep your eye out for your Sample
Ballot booklet in the months leading up to an election, and why you
need to hand on to it so you know where to go on election day.
Some of the resulting precincts are so small, with just a handful of voters assigned to them, there isn't an actual precinct to serve them. So, instead of being given precinct number and address on their Sample Ballot booklet, they are automatically sent an absentee ballot, which they can then mail in or complete and drop off according the the standard Absentee Ballot guidelines for the state.
4.
Why didn't I get any information from the Registrar of Voters this
time?
Did you move since the last election? If so, chances are the Post Office
returned to the Registrar of Voters the materials sent by the Registrar
to your old address. Since you must re-register when you move, none of
the Registrar's materials will be forwarded to your new address by the
Post Office, even if you have a forwarding order on your mail. The Post
Offices keeps voter registration forms on hand, so when you pick up some
of the Post Office's Change Of Address packets, pick up a registration
form, and fill them all and get them in the mail at the same time.
But, okay. It's election day morning, and you suddenly realize that you have no clue where to go. What do you do? You could try calling the Registrar of Voter's office, but I can pretty much guarantee that you're going to get a busy signal and you may not have time to wait around, hitting your Redial button. Most counties now have a "Find Your Polling Place" search engine, where in you plug in your zip code and street address, and are given your precinct number and location. Some Secretary of State Elections offices have links to each county's website, if you don't already have yours bookmarked.
5.
How come I'm not listed with my new (old) name?
When you change your name, either because of marriage or divorce, or just
because you decided you wanted to legally change your name (and did so
in court and have a shiny new drivers license to show for it), you have
to re-register, with your new name and signature on the new registration
card. Your previous name will be removed from the list of registered voters,
with your new/current name added. If you don't have time to stop at the
Post Office to pick up a new voter registration form, you can print out
one from your Secretary of State's site,
or call your County Registrar of Voter's office and request one.
6.
I moved since the last election - why can't I vote at my old precinct?
Even if you just moved across the street or a couple of blocks away, you
may now be in a different precinct because of how the various district
boundaries fall.
Some people who haven't moved sometimes find that they can no longer vote in the same place as they have for years, for the very same reason.
7.
Where do I find my assigned precinct?
The best place is to look at the information printed on the covers of
your Sample Ballot booklet. Along with your name and residence address,
you will also find the precinct number and address you are assigned to.
If you did not get a Sample Ballot booklet, or you threw it out, or lost
it, or the dog ate it, you can go online and use the "Find Your Polling
Place" search engine on your County Registrar of Voter's site, or
call the Registrar's office. It
is strongly recommended that you do this well before election day!
8.
Where did my old polling place go?!
Change is rough, especially
when you're racing to get to work, or dragging home after work, and you
drive on automatic pilot to the place you've gone to vote in every election
for the past decade...and find that it is gone. No flags, no Polling Place
signs, no cheerful precinct workers ready to welcome you and ease you
through the process.
Polling place locations are generally volunteered by the property or business owner. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the location may not be available on an election day, so the Registrar of Voters scrambles to line up an alternative location. Or, a business may decide not to donate space any more, such as a hotel that's been having a rough patch and would rather make money renting out its conference room to a paying conference rather than donating the space for elections.
If you have a space that is suitable for a polling place that you would be willing to have used as such, do let your Registrar of Voters know. Sites are both accessible to those with disabilities that are also able to handle several hundred people during the course of an election day (7 AM through 8 PM voting hours, plus an hour before and a couple of hours after for the precinct officers to do their thing) are becoming an endangered species in many parts of the country.
9.
Why is the precinct I'm assigned to now so much farther from my
home/so crowded?
Not only are locations to hold precincts often in short supply in communities
where businesses and other entities have decided to no longer permit their
premises from being a precinct on election day, but volunteers to staff
the precincts are getting harder to find. As a result, there are fewer
precincts, which means voters have to travel further and, during rush
hours (early morning, lunch time, after school, and after work hours),
stand in line longer to get processed through the check-in and wait for
a booth to open up.
So, if you aren't working, or can take the day off work (or use a vacation day), consider volunteering as a precinct worker. In many places, you will get paid a small amount, but that's not why the people who do it do it. It is a way to be part of the process on a community level.
If the ~15 hour day is too long for you, check with your Registrar of Voter's office to see if they have split shifts. In some counties, if you can find a "buddy" to split the day with you, each committing to work a specific part of the day, you can both just work part of the full day.
For example, one person works from 6 AM to 2 or 3 PM, with the "buddy" working from 2 PM to the very end of packing up the precinct, which can be 9-10 PM, depending on how experienced some of the other precinct workers are. The catch is that if the afternoon "buddy" is late or fails to show up, the morning person has to stay for the full day.
Fortunately, working at a precinct on election day is like a lot of jobs: periods with few or no voters, punctuated with bursts of lots of voters. One of the reason for having as many people assigned to work the precincts as there are at least 4, often 5-6, if there are enough volunteers for the larger precincts) is so that the Inspector can handle the problems as they arise, while the Clerks keep processing voters through the check-in, get them the correct ballots, assist those requesting assistance, etc. Smart precinct volunteers always bring a book, some magazines, a knitting project, homework, or something else they keep themselves entertained with during the lulls between activity periods.
If you are going to volunteer, I encourage you to go to the Inspectors training classes that are offered in the month before each election. It is a great opportunity to get familiar with the materials, forms, and procedures you will be dealing with on election day. And, since things change from one election to another, go to a training class each time you volunteer. I find the refreshers very helpful in retraining my brain and finding out about changes, both of which make the actual election day much less stressful than it can be.
To find out about volunteering, check out your Registrar of Voter's website or give them a call. For Sonoma County, see the Interested in Serving at the Polls? page.
10.
How do I get an absentee ballot?
If you want to register as a Permanent Absentee Voter, you will need to
re-register. Go to your Secretary of State's Election page or your County
Registrar of Voters page to get a printable registration form. Or, stop
by the Post Office or public library and pick one up there. Fill it out,
mail it in so that it is received by your Registrar of Voters at least
15 days before the next election day, and you will start getting absentee
ballots.
If you just need an absentee ballot for the coming election, look on the covers of your Sample Ballot for the Absentee Ballot request form. Follow the directions on the form, mail it in so that it will get to your Registrar of Voters at least 15 days before the next election day, and you will get an absentee ballot for that election.
NOTE: remember that the Registrar of Voters has a ton of work to do leading up to each election. When state laws were changed to push the registration and absentee ballot request dates to 15 days before the actual day of election, it has caused huge problems for the Registrar of Voters (RoV) and the Post Office (PO). The PO has to try to get all the registration cards and absentee ballot requests delivered to the RoV in time for the RoV to process the requests, make and verify changes to all the computer systems, and get the absentee ballots in the mail in time for the votes to receive them in time to vote it by or on the actual election day.
11.
What if I got an absentee ballot but I decide I want (or can) to
go into my precinct and vote?
Each precinct has a list of the registered voters in the precinct. Next
to the names of those voters who are on file as having requested a one-time
absentee ballot, or are on Permanent Absentee Ballot status, is a code
indicating that voter is an absentee voter.
In order to be able to vote in your precinct, you will need to surrender your absentee ballot, including the blue envelope it came in, to the precinct worker when you sign in. If you come in without it, you will be asked to complete a Provisional Ballot, which will require showing various forms of identification and proof of residence at your address. It takes more time, for you and the precinct workers, to complete the paperwork for a Provisional Ballot. It also takes more time when the ballots are being tallied, as the Registrar of Voters personnel have to make sure that no one has voted more than once (see Final Tally of County Votes Moves Ahead).
So, by all means, vote at your precinct on election day! But make your life and everyone else's easier by bringing with you your unvoted absentee ballot and envelope.
12.
What if I just want to vote on some of the offices and issues, but
not all of them?
That's fine! When it comes to each individual election, voting isn't an
"all or nothing" thing. If you don't want to cast a vote for
(or against) any of the candidates running for, say, governor of the state,
there are still lots of other offices that are up for election, plus many
federal, state, county and city measures to vote on.
For example, in the November 2, 2004 General Election, the offices and measures that will be appearing on my ballot (based on the various districts I am in) are:
- President/Vice President of the United States (vote for 1 pair)
- U.S. Senator (vote for 1 candidate)
- U.S. Representative, District 6 (vote for 1 candidate)
- State Assembly, District 7 (vote for 1 candidate)
- City of Santa Rosa, High School District Board Members (vote for 4 candidates)
- Piner-Olivet School District Board Member (vote for 2 candidates)
- City of Santa Rosa City Council (vote for 4 candidates)
- 16 State Propositions
- 1 County Tax Increase Measure
- 1 City Tax Increase Measure
Just because I may not like any of the candidates running for president doesn't mean I won't be researching the other offices, propositions and measures, and casting my vote for all the other things on the ballot.
Key Points:
- You must register to be able to vote
- You most vote to have a say in who gets elected and what measures pass
- If you are eligible to vote but do not register, or register but voluntarily do not vote, you have no right to complain when you don't like the results.
Sonoma County Links
Interested in Serving at the Polls?
Absent Voter & Permanent Absentee Voter
California Links
Secretary of State Elections & Voter Information
SmartVoter.org > My Ballot ("Find my polling place")
