I received yesterday, finally, my voter identification card. When I pulled the envelope from my mail box, I was excited and curious. Would mine contain mistakes, like so many others?
My first clue came when I saw the yellow sticker at the bottom of the envelope indicating it had been forwarded from my old address. Why would they send it there, I wondered?
Then I pulled my card out of the envelope. Surprise: The wrong address, precinct number and polling location are printed on the front. The secretary of state’s office printed my card based on the information from my previous address.
How did this happen? When I mailed my information sheet back to the secretary of state (which arrived a few months ago at my new house after being forwarded from my old address), I was very careful to include my new address. I also mailed it in time to ensure it would arrive before the deadline.
For some reason, the secretary of state’s office must have used my information on file with Doña Ana County instead of the information I mailed to Santa Fe. I haven’t updated my voter registration yet.
My wife and I moved several months ago, but we’re both registered independents, so there was no need to update our information before last week’s primary. And the county elections bureau is about to begin its big move to the new county administrative building, so I decided it was best to let them get settled in before I updated my information.
What a waste of money this card turned out to be. Even a utility bill is better than this. It at least should have a current address!
My wife’s card hasn’t even arrived yet.
If you want to share a story about your voter ID card, feel free to submit a comment at the end of this posting by clicking on the envelope icon.