My absentee ballot arrived in a charmingly hand-addressed envelope from the Allegheny County Board of Elections. Tucked inside were return envelopes and instructions, plus the most poorly pasted-up and over-copied sheet of paper I’ve seen in decades.
Look, Ma, I made it myself!
It’s all very homespun, including the apology from the Division Manager of the Department of Administrative Services Election Division:
Because there is insufficient time to print and distribute the official absentee ballot for the November 2, 2004 Presidential Election, we have prepared the enclosed Write-In Ballot for you to vote and return by the October 29, 2004 deadline.
OK. Fair enough…no fancy printing. But doesn’t Allegheny County have word processors?
At the minimum, you think they could have at least lined up the boxes and hidden the lines from the scotch tape. Shoddy workmanship doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the electoral process.
Hey, what’s this typed at the bottom of the ballot?
But, no. There is nothing “over.” And no information in the instructions, cover lettor or list of candidates. I wonder what the special question was supposed to be? And more importantly, does its absence invalidate my ballot??
Posted by kuri at September 28, 2004 08:18 AMInsufficient time for printing? As a non-US citizen, even *I* know that the election is held every four years on the same day. Surely this election is no surprise…
At least there are no hanging chads.. (or whatever they were called)
Can you not vote at the Embassy or visit one of the millitary bases?
Posted by: T on September 28, 2004 10:50 AMI wonder if the special question is leftover from the 2003 general election:
http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/elect/index.asp
http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/elect/200311gen/question10.asp
I wouldn’t worry about it invalidating your ballot, I’m sure the Bush administration has already made the decision about which votes will be counted this time :)
Posted by: womble on September 28, 2004 11:50 AM