VOTE CENTRAL
You will find all kinds of links on the net urging you to check your registration here and there, etc., etc. But do you know who has the final, most up to date info about your voter status? The San Luis Obispo County Clerk's office! So don't mess around, especially if you're going down to the wire, the place you want to go to for every bit of accurate voter information is here:
http://www.slovote.com
But while we're here, give yourselves a big round of applause for handily re-electing Tommy Gong this June. He's been one of those wonderful public servants who sees his role as facilitating voting, and who has bent over backwards to achieve it. His dedicated staff could not be more helpful, and the entire department is bent on getting every adult in the county registered and voting. So please thank them if you get a chance to talk to them, this kind of attitude just cannot be taken for granted these days, and we're all grateful.
http://www.slovote.com
But while we're here, give yourselves a big round of applause for handily re-electing Tommy Gong this June. He's been one of those wonderful public servants who sees his role as facilitating voting, and who has bent over backwards to achieve it. His dedicated staff could not be more helpful, and the entire department is bent on getting every adult in the county registered and voting. So please thank them if you get a chance to talk to them, this kind of attitude just cannot be taken for granted these days, and we're all grateful.
REGISTRATION
Registration has improved! It used to be that if you missed the early deadline you were completely excluded. But now California has made it much more flexible, so that you can essentially register right up to election day.
We don't recommend procrastination though :-). Why? Because it's so easy to register online! At the so-helpful http://www.slovote.com of course. You can only do so, by state law, until 15 days before the registration deadline (October 22nd). After that date, you'll have to go in person to the County Clerk's office, on Monterey in SLO.
Another helpful registration change: any young person who reaches the age of 18 by election day can register in advance. But did you know that you can now do this pre-registration from the age of 16? So this means most high-school students can prepare now to fulfill their civic duty painlessly and automatically as soon as they're finally eligible for it.
Note that you still need to re-register if you have moved, even if the move is within the county or the same town. Also, if you change your name, your gender, your political party affiliation... Anyway, it's easy, if in doubt just re-register.
VOTING BY MAIL
Voting by mail is a popular option these days. It's a convenience for working people, for caregivers, for people with mobility problems.. And you can sign up to vote by mail in perpetuity in California (check http://www.slovote.com again). It would seem to promote accurate counting because it necessarily involves paper, which can be recounted if necessary. It's easy because you can get your ballot a month early, take your time to fill it out, and if it's convenient you can still take it down to your polling place in person, collecting your lovely 'I voted' sticker in the bargain.
BUT there are some drawbacks. A mail-in ballot that's handed in on election day is considered provisional. Consider that the signature on your envelope is going to be checked against the one on your original registration. Without giving you horror stories of what's happening in less-enlightened states, think back on June of this year and the close race in District 4 that saw Jimmy Paulding losing the Board of Supervisors seat by a mere 60 votes. Our County Clerk bent over backwards to check each disputed signature, to call people and ask them to come verify it in person, going way beyond the call of duty. Still, did every signature get validated? And why put that admirable office, as well as yourself, through such an ordeal?
So which of you are certain that you're signing your name exactly as when you registered to vote? If you can't remember exactly when you registered, chances are that's a no. So please, if you're voting by mail, be sure to re-register completely, even if you haven't moved, every couple of years.
BUT there are some drawbacks. A mail-in ballot that's handed in on election day is considered provisional. Consider that the signature on your envelope is going to be checked against the one on your original registration. Without giving you horror stories of what's happening in less-enlightened states, think back on June of this year and the close race in District 4 that saw Jimmy Paulding losing the Board of Supervisors seat by a mere 60 votes. Our County Clerk bent over backwards to check each disputed signature, to call people and ask them to come verify it in person, going way beyond the call of duty. Still, did every signature get validated? And why put that admirable office, as well as yourself, through such an ordeal?
So which of you are certain that you're signing your name exactly as when you registered to vote? If you can't remember exactly when you registered, chances are that's a no. So please, if you're voting by mail, be sure to re-register completely, even if you haven't moved, every couple of years.
