Elections

For the first time in the eight and a half years that I have been voting in the state of Illinois, I missed an opportunity to vote in an election. And I am going to be perfectly honest: I am very upset. And not with myself.

You see, I have been registered to vote since I turned 18. I have never, since that time, not been registered to vote. I have always been registered in the state of Illinois although, in all this time, I have lived in at least six different precincts. However, my registration has never ceased to be in this state, and, for the past five years or so, it has been in Champaign.

So even though Gretchen and I moved in August, we both knew that we were still registered to vote. Or so we thought. It turns out that Illinois has what I am going to call the stupidest voter registration rule ever. I didn't even know about this rule until about 20 minutes ago, when I arrived at my polling place to get my ballot for what I believe was one of the single most important elections of my life. This is the rule: "If you moved more than 30 days before the election within the same election jurisdiction, but outside your precinct, and did not transfer your registration, you can vote on a ballot for federal offices only after completing an address correction form."

Here's my problem with this rule: I have never been told this. Ever. I found it on the pdf of the "Registering to Vote in Illinois" brochure on the state's election website. But, as a dutiful citizen who registered to vote through the US Postal Service the same time I registered for Selective Service when I turned 18, I have never seen this document. I have never seen the rules for what to do when you move. And nobody has ever sent me something when I've moved to say, "Hey, heads-up: if you move and still want to vote in the full election, you need to update your registration information within 30 days of the election or you are going to get completely screwed over on Election Day."

Let's be honest: In Illinois, the governor is elected during the mid-term elections. Nobody gives a flying rat's patootie about the federal-only ballot, because there's nothing on that particular ballot! Instead of going in to vote for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, State Representative, State Senator, County Sheriff, County Board members, an amendment to the State Constitution, and a ballot measure to reduce the size of the county board, we were only allowed to vote for U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative.

So, despite casting a ballot for these two federal positions, I feel ashamed, because I feel that I did not actually vote. I didn't even take an "I Voted" sticker to add to my collection, because what did I do? Nothing. Nothing of substance, at least. Except get screwed over by a ridiculously stupid election rule that nobody has ever bothered to tell anyone about. The sad thing is that Gretch and I overheard a girl next to us expressing the same dismay that she was being barred from voting in the gubernatorial election, which is the only one she cared about. So it wasn't just us. I wonder how many other Illinois residents got slapped in the face for not following an election rule they didn't know about. How many other Illinois residents discovered that they were not going to be a part of the democratic process of our state? Hundreds? Thousands? One is too many. I am determined to find out who is in charge of the election rules to get this changed, or at least make sure that every resident of Illinois is informed of this rule upon moving.

In the meantime, I hope you voted today.