Voter registration from ACTIVE to INACTIVE

[louslobbs]

Hey everyone,
I have been checking my voter registration every few weeks, in order to have a little peace of mind. My mail-in ballots always arrive on time and I have never had an issue with my active voter registration status, neither has my spouse. Never any mail issues here in Palm Springs, CA. This morning I typed in sos.ca.gov/elections....scrolled down to voter status......filled in the required information and found that, in all capitalized RED letters, that my voter status had been changed to INACTIVE. I found that odd, but refused to put on my tin foil hat just yet. 13 years at the same address and never any vote by mail ballot issues, this is probably just a coincidence and problems happen. My spouse, who has been working from home since March, heard me say something in a loud voice and came out of the office to ask what was wrong. I asked him if he would do me a favor. Would he go into the California voter website and check on his voter status. He is usually very diplomatic and cool as a cucumber, so after typing in his name, address, California Drivers License number, and last 4 of his Social Security, he looked up at me and exclaimed, "what the fuck is this"? His voter registration too had been changed to INACTIVE. Two friends who love up the street in the development, were called and asked, if they would mind checking on their voter registration status.......INACTIVE AND INACTIVE. I then tried to re-register online and let's just say that was unsuccessful. I then called the office of the registrar of voters at 951-486-7200, held for 20 minutes and was finally able to speak with a very professional, Erica Mejia. The reason, she said, for the INACTIVE status is because the Post Office claimed that this address was un-deliverable. She would be happy to make my voter status active again, but my issue was with the post office. She also spoke with my spouse and re-activated his voter status. She doesn't know why this is happening and suggested that I call the post office. I asked if we are the only ones calling about this issue, she said no, but that is all she would say. What should be my next step? Please everyone, check your voter status...I feel like this is deliberate and I'm not sure how I should proceed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Lou

[Laelth]

1. Oh, suck. That does not bode well. n/t

-Laelth

[TruckFump]

2. Riverside County is a bit red...or at least it used to be when I lived there.

I use to live there over 20 years ago. Nothing shocks me anymore on screwing with Dem voters in Blue states. There are a few red areas in Calif and Riverside County in your area tends to be one of those areas. Glad you caught it.

I am like you and I check frequently with LA County on my registration and mail in ballot. Still active and a registered Dem...so far, so good.

[louslobbs]

4. any thoughts

further action I could take?

[CrispyQ]

6. I would contact your local democratic party, your rep, & your senator. -nt

[louslobbs]

12. good idea

thanks

[W_HAMILTON]

7. Report it to your congressional representative (if they are a Democrat).

Also report it to your Secretary of State.

[louslobbs]

16. Just got off the

phone with Raul Ruiz office.....someone will call me back....there's also this nextdoor app....maybe join and advise everyone that way as well.
Thanks everyone,
Lou

[Wicked Blue]

9. Call local Board of Elections and complain?

Also contact local Democratic Party leaders

[louslobbs]

14. thanks

we really just can't ignore this.....I will see what comes of my calls and pass on the info.
thanks
Lou

[louslobbs]

20. thanks everyone

I'm on this.....this election is the most important in our history and if they are doing this here in California, imagine what's being done in the rest of the country.

[BComplex]

85. Call the attorney general and your senators and representatives to the US congress.

You also might want to call CNN and MSNBC.

[alwaysinasnit]

3. Thanks for the heads up. Just checked mine and it is OK (Sonoma County).

[louslobbs]

8. I think I'm gonna check each day

until the ballot arrives and then make sure that it is received after mailed back. I guess if it doesn't arrive at all, I'll need to vote in person.....and I'd crawl through flowing lava to do so.

[alwaysinasnit]

31. Me too. Thanks again!

[lagomorph777]

5. Louie DeJerk is behind this. I'd better check mine right away.

[louslobbs]

10. Please everyone

check, recheck, and tell your friends and family to check. I knew this happened, it just never happened to me.

[not fooled]

51. Yeah, sounds as though the Post Office is responsible

not the local election officials.

Yet another nasty trick.

[louslobbs]

68. It's def the

Post office.....but only seems to be our ballots that are “undeliverable.”

[Nictuku]

11. I checked mine

I'm in Napa county, and it is still set active, and my mail in ballot choices are correct.

[kimbutgar]

13. What site did you go to?

I went though canivote.org it said I was not registered. Then I went directly to the California Secretary of State website and it said I was registered. Go directly to the California SOS not a third party site.

[louslobbs]

17. sos.ca.gov/elections

Always active until this morning.

[louslobbs]

18. Also

The registrar showed our statuses as inactive and we had to have her re-activate both.

[LAS14]

15. Wo! Scary. I immediately checked the registration for me and my 3 Massachusetts...

... relatives. Super easy! We're all OK. In Maine you have to call the relevant city clerk. New York was almost as easy as Massachusetts (just had to know the county as well as birth date). It looks like Minnesota is set up like Massachusetts, but I didn't have my friend's zip code handy.

The problem is that thousands (millions, probably) would never think to check their status. As some talking head pointed out the other day, there's a huge percentage of the population that don't and will never know how Trump dissed the military or "played down" the Corona virus. We can't have a voting system that depends on self motivated, educated people.

[louslobbs]

32. Too many uninformed

too many don't care, too many now have no address to receive a ballot, too many fill out their ballot wrong....don't sign it or the signatures don't match...this was always a disaster in the making and all that was needed was the arsonist Trump and his merry little mob of authoritarians. The problem for these people, is if they get their authoritarian wishes, that the Dictator only has to believe that you are not loyal to take you out.....there doesn't have to be any reality or truth, the Dictator only need to think that you are disloyal......no trial, no explanation.......he only has to believe it or someone has convinced him with fabricated evidence.....and you are history. This shit is serious and we are all now neck deep in this march toward authoritarianism. Hitler used to have a judge, known as the screaming judge (Frailer)...I can picture Bill Barr in that position. You never had a chance to explain or be judged, that was not the purpose of having to face this judge, this judge (Freisler) just called you names, chastised you and screamed at you before he sentenced you to death........
lou

[appalachiablue]

45. I hope things can be corrected for you easily.

How absurd- 'undeliverable' after 13 yrs of receiving mail. And I'll check out judge Freisler, that's a new one.

Best.

[csziggy]

57. I receintly had a letter returned as "unclaimed" sent to my 40 + year PO Box

First Class letter, so I don't know why it would need to be "claimed" - and correctly and clearly addressed to the PO Box I've held since that PO branch was opened before 1980.

Sent from an office in a zip code that is delivered from that same branch. Oh, and it took six weeks for the letter to returned to the sender.

[appalachiablue]

61. Things have to be really messed up at the post office

facilities with tearing up sorting machines and mailboxes, overtime hours reduction, 'slow down' first class and other directives from above.

But that's really wild that you rec'd the unclaimed letter that way...

All to screw up the election possibly & further discredit & weaken the US Postal Service so it's sold off to private cos.

[louslobbs]

83. Our mail has definitely

slowed down, but this does seem like it was done with malice. No other mail has been designated undeliverable. Since trump can’t win, they are pulling out all the stops to steal this election. The way Bill Barr and Moscow Mitch are acting, you would think they knew the fix was in for them to steal this election. And as Bill Barr said “the winners will write the history.”

[csziggy]

87. Would you know if something didn't arrive?

That is my dilemma - if the office that had sent the letter hadn't called me, I would never had known it hadn't been sent. It was a recipt for a deposit - good thing the check that it was a receipt for was personally delivered - I would have hated to lose THAT in the mail!

[louslobbs]

59. And no other mail

Has been undeliverable other than these two ballots.

[appalachiablue]

64. How twisted, and to be that obvious and

blundering. Sorry for your hassles, the 'foul up' with your mail and neighbors will be remedied in time I'm sure.

[louslobbs]

67. The registrar corrected

Both of ours over the phone. We checked and both of us are now back go active. We just want to know how and why this happened. No other mail seems to have been designated undeliverable. If this is being done by nefarious means we need to know.

[BComplex]

86. This is why we need to get this on the news, and in social media.

People need to be informed that this could be happening.

After this election is all over with, I want a new constitutional amendment that says anyone caught trying to disenfranchise someone's vote gets an immediate life sentence. Trump and the republican party have shown us that they will do ANYTHING to keep us from exercising our rights. Our vote is our freedom. If they can take that away from us, we should be able to take their freedom away from them, and make sure they spend their lives in jail.

Voting interference needs to be made a capital crime. Once and for all. I'm tired of all the lip service given to how sacred our right to vote is, and then there being no punishment for those who try to destroy that right.

[LAS14]

88. Given the 4 targets this may be mixed up with homophobia as well. nt

[rockfordfile]

19. If this is true, then this is a attempt to steal the election

In 2016 I had something where the right-wing pos tried not to count my vote. The first part is trying to get, well who reviewed my ballot?
It was a right-wing pos that had been on fox news at one point. It was absentee ballot that I never asked for. It did end up being counted.

[louslobbs]

22. I agree

that's why I left a detailed message with Raul Ruiz's office and I will not let this go until someone can explain to me how this happened. I do not believe this is accidental and I live in the state of reality. I will let you guys know what if any is the explanation. I'm hoping someone will call back today and if I need to involve the local media to investigate this, I will do that as well.
Lou

[Dem2theMax]

21. I checked mine. I'm good. I'm going to check every week.

Thank you for the heads up. Someone further up thread gave a lot of good advice as to who to get in touch with regarding this issue. I would get in touch with every single person or Department that was mentioned.

[louslobbs]

25. It's so true though

when something happens to you, it really sinks in and makes you realize that this is happening and it can happen to anyone. This is one of many wake up calls we are all having as of late. We better get this right. I will tell you, that the upset I am feeling is pretty unusual.....I believe there is a reason for this and I believe it has to do with voter disenfranchisement.
Lou

[csziggy]

23. Call the local news outlets

This information needs to be gotten out so that EVERYONE who is registered to vote can check their status in time to be re-instated.

Also, the suggestion to contact your representative is the right thing. I had an issue recently where a first class mailing from a local office was sent to my PO Box. Address correct, city, state, and zip code correct, but after six weeks it was returned to the office as "unclaimed." A first class envelope should NOT be marked as "unclaimed" - all they had to do was to put it in the PO Box where it was addressed to. I scanned the envelope and sent the scan to Representative Al Lawson for my district. His office is investigating.

I was talking to a young man today and he said it's been over a week since he and his neighbors have gotten mail at their houses.

In the past it was illegal to change voters registration statue within a certain period before an election. I don't remember how long it was or if that was part of the Voter's Act that has been overturned.

[louslobbs]

27. This is all bad news

these people who are trying to steal this election are playing for keeps. If you were a lying, thieving, money grubbing, power hungry POS who has committed so many crimes, that when investigated, would have your tried and jailed for many many years, wouldn't you do everything you could to stay in power? I believe, that they believe, that they have no choice, especially this time. Trump has totally exposed everyone in the GOP and everyone must now tow the line.....lie, cheat, steal and whatever necessary to remain in power, this is it. Mitch McConnell, Bill Barr, Mike Pompey et al must stay in power. So this election is all or prison for many of them. I believe that they believe that they already have this rigged. McConnell had this same pompous (fuck you, you cant touch me attitude) when he and his cohorts stole the Garland Supreme Court seat. Mitch pretty much knew the fix was in.....he's acting the same way now, but that doesn't mean that they slow down or stop all of the other voter disenfranchisement efforts. They need to use every nefarious effort to remain in power and I believe that is exactly what they are doing. For the first time in my life, I believe that this country could be taken over by authoritarians. So we must, no matter what, try and stop them. This voting issue has just brought it home for me.....we need to fight this until we can't fight anymore. So I will find out what happened here and I will make sure others are aware that this can happen to anyone.

[elleng]

24. 'my issue was with the post office'

[louslobbs]

29. May I ask

what was the issue? I've received my mail in ballot here for the past 13 years.....now all of a sudden, my ballot and the ballot of my spouse are undeliverable? The guys up the street, undeliverable? I'm waiting to see if there is anyone else in this area once I create a post for this nextdoor thing. This is just too suspicious.
Lou

[elleng]

30. OP wrote: Voter registration from ACTIVE to INACTIVE.

Read about it:

'I have been checking my voter registration every few weeks, in order to have a little peace of mind. My mail-in ballots always arrive on time and I have never had an issue with my active voter registration status, neither has my spouse. Never any mail issues here in Palm Springs, CA. This morning I typed in sos.ca.gov/elections....scrolled down to voter status......filled in the required information and found that, in all capitalized RED letters, that my voter status had been changed to INACTIVE.'

Not MY problem, I'm in MD, but that of the OP writer, in CA.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214087829

[louslobbs]

33. ok

thank you

[elleng]

34. SORRY that I didn't notice YOU were OPer!

Was just quoting you!

[LAS14]

26. I just sent this post to Rachel. nt

[louslobbs]

28. Thanks

everything we can do.....we all have to pull together and stop this shit while we still can.
Lou

[Duppers]

35. K & R

[Karadeniz]

36. All great suggestions...the one that was my first thought, too, is ALERT THE MEDIA!!!

Your local paper or whichever one is mostly read needs to warn people...wouldn't hurt if they asked people to whom this is happening to notify them so they can stay on top of the situation.

[LAS14]

38. I sent the post to Rachel. nt

[Mr.Bill]

37. In California you can register to vote up to

and including election day, and fill in a provisional ballot.

[Alliepoo]

39. Bookmarking so I can check back

And see what you’ve found out.

[Chakaconcarne]

40. Just register as an independent...keep 'em guessing.

Hate to say it.....

[louslobbs]

69. Sad

That we have to even think of doing that

[NNadir]

41. Done. New Jersey. My whole family is good.

Four votes for Biden/Harris which is exactly equivalent to votes for my country and its constitution.

[bikeboy]

42. East Bay CA

My voter info is all good at this point, thanks for having me check! Vote the Bums Out!

[sure why not]

43. Also contact "7 On Your Side"

You probably have it in Palm Springs. They investigate and make corrections as well as broadcast the problem far & wide.

[louslobbs]

70. That's a great idea too

Thanks, I’m giving Raul Ruiz and post office till tomorrow morning.

[progressoid]

44. I would also alert the media. (assuming your local media outlets worth a shit)

Make a stink about it. The more people that know the better.

[TexasProgresive]

46. That's scary, We're in Texas so maybe they aren't doing that here.

I just checked my wife and mine registrations and we are both Active. We are allowed to vote by mail since we became 65. The ballots have come in the mail with no problems. The last ones we got were for a primary runoff not too long ago.

[louslobbs]

73. Keep checking

It can’t hurt.

[rockfordfile]

77. I agree

[TexasProgresive]

79. That's my plan

[majdrfrtim]

47. Mine, in Los Angeles,

is fine (so far).

I'll keep checking, now that I know that there's election-tampering in the works, even here in California. Thanks!!

[louslobbs]

71. It can't hurt to

Keep checking. I knew this happened, just never considered it could happen here in CA, but then came trump and his flunky dejoke.

[FuzzyRabbit]

48. I just checked my voter status.

In Washington state go to https://voter.votewa.gov/WhereToVote.aspx to check.

Mine was active. So far.

The Washington state republicans have a long and glorious history of voter caging, illegal campaign contributions, etc, etc. Since all voting in Washington is done by mail it will pay to check often to make sure that the (Republican) secretary of state mails your ballot to you.

[louslobbs]

74. I agree

Keep checking and tell all your friends as well.

[Illumination]

49. Thank you for letting us know about this. Just checked my voter status for Boulder CO. It's

ACTIVE thank goodness. Best of luck to you Lou. Appreciate you being so pro-active!...

[louslobbs]

58. Sure

I will keep checking until I receive my ballot and then check that they receive my Voted ballot And that it was accepted. I would never have expected this in California.
Lou

[Illumination]

81. I was born in California. Born in northern CA but grew up mainly in Oxnard & the Bay Area.

Sorry this has happened to you. It must be frustrating. Let's hope that the media does some reporting on this. I posted your post this am on our community board where I live. That's the best thing to do is to get the word out. You & your wife take care...

[James48]

50. "The post office"-

So now we know what old DeJoy is up to next. He finds out who is on the democratic mailing lists, and then- reports “a problem with that address” to the state voting officials. But just to the democrats addresses.


“Your problem is with the Post Office”, she says.

No, my problem is with the criminals running the Post Office, and occupying the White House.

[louslobbs]

76. And the post office

Is always an agency that is difficult to navigate through even in good times. I’m still waiting for a return of my phone call.

[RhodeIslandOne]

52. They. Are. Going. To. Steal. This. Election.

[louslobbs]

56. They are

Trying as we speak
Lou

[progree]

53. Hopefully this makes it into the Left Column of the home page for more and continued visibility /nt

[CanonRay]

54. Are you getting ok?

Because if it is truly because of the Post Office your mail would be f'd up too.

[louslobbs]

55. That's just it

No other mail has been affected and it seems as though the excuse “undeliverable at this address” only applies to my ballot and my spouses ballot. No other “undeliverable” problem seems to exist. I want them to explain to me, why that is. No call back yet from post office or Raul Ruiz. I have not contacted media yet. I will give them until tomorrow mid morning.
Lou

[LAS14]

60. Could you clarify? It sounds like two other people in your area had the problem???

Two friends who love up the street in the development, were called and asked, if they would mind checking on their voter registration status.......INACTIVE AND INACTIVE.

[louslobbs]

66. We live in development

So far 4 people have had this issue, myself and spouse and another gay couple up the street. We all vote by mail. I’m 99% sure they are Democrats. None of us has ever had this problem. We are here 13 years and they are here 5 years. No other mail has been designated undeliverable. I believe this is more than just coincidence. This is Palm Springs CA.

[Blue_true]

62. I plan to vote early, in person, and skip the Post Office nonsense. nt

[LisaL]

63. With inactive voter registration, one can't vote at all.

NT

[Blue_true]

65. I checked my registration two days ago, I am active.

I will check it the week before early voting starts, but I don’t anticipate issues. I also got a partially filled in (name and address) form to request a mail-in ballot from my county registrar, but as I pointed out, I am voting early in person.

[louslobbs]

78. That's why I was so

Angry, still am.

[louslobbs]

72. I think we are going to

Vote in person since this issue has left us unsure about the mail in ballot. I still would like to know what happened. The guys up the street don’t seem to be too concerned. They did call the registrar and are now back to active, but they seem to think it’s just coincidence since it was only four of us...how do we know that? What if it were just a trial run? I hate that I feel so paranoid now.

[Blue_true]

75. We have to get rid of Trump on November 3. The decision has to be overwhelming on that night.

That is why I believe that people who are set on mailing in ballots in the current environment are inviting chaos.

[louslobbs]

82. We are now voting

In person on Nov. 3.....everyone who can should. If we didn’t find out about our inactive status and didn’t receive our ballots by mail, I assume we would have had a difficult time voting, even on Election Day, with an inactive status. Even if we were able to vote provisional, enough problems like that at the polling place can cause long lines and other problems. We will make sure we stay active and vote in person. I’m still waiting for a call back from Raul Ruiz Office and the postal inspector.

[Blue_true]

89. I read an article just a few minutes ago.

Early voting turnout in the first four states to allow in person voting was massive today, lines were four hours long in Virginia and people stuck it out. That is encouraging. Distrust of what is happening with the Post Office was the major reason why people decided to don masks and vote early in person.

[beaglelover]

93. Me too.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

80. K&R

for visibility.

[BComplex]

84. You need to call the Atty. General of the State of California, and the governors office, and the

offices of your senators and representatives. Right now. If things aren't turned around in short order, you need to get hold of a really good lawyer who can get a judge to issue a restraining order against the post office.

[beaglelover]

90. Thanks for this. I just checked my CA voter registration and it's still active. Phew.

[electric_blue68]

91. Finally sent in request for Absentee ballot and

Double checked on my registration (checked about 3 weeks ago) just before I made my request.

Good Luck everyone!

[LeftInTX]

92. In Texas, you get on the "Suspense" list if mail from Elections "bounces".

When you vote, they ask if you have moved. (They supposedly ask everyone every time if they have moved, but they don't)

Usually Suspense is someone who has moved, but it could be an error of sorts. It happened to one of my friends one time, he does not know why. You can still vote if you're on the Suspense list. I find that in 98% of the cases, people on the Suspense list have moved. As a matter of fact, I have never encountered anyone who has not moved because I do lots of block walking. If someone is on the Suspense list, it's OK to call them, but block walking is always a dead end for me.