CA: My daughter is voting for the first time and has not received

[rumpel]

confirmation of her registration.

The phone numbers 800 and regular (posted on the SOS site), as well as the number posted on the lavote.net are not working!

This is incrediblly incompetent!

:grr:

[babylonsister]

1. Beware. My dad's girlfriend thought she was registered, and

she went to vote and wasn't. That's in FL, but same scenario. Does your daughter have a drivers license? (my dad's honey has a license from NC) HAve you checked out CA voting requirements?

[rumpel]

4. yes, she has a license

[stellanoir]

2. It is always mind boggling to reflect upon whether it's

truly incompetence or totally deliberate.

Maybe call the League of Women Voters and see if they have any recommendations.

Hope she gets it straightened out soon.

best

[rumpel]

6. with Connie...

I would not be surprised

[sandrakae]

3. Have her try this link.

http://mydem.democrats.com/

[rumpel]

8. we shall try, thanks

and btw the SOS has not updated the registration info since September 8, 2006

I have been checking every day the past few days to make sure - like in 2004, I feel like a parrot, but -70,000 voter discrepancy in LA County, 2004...

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_u.htm

[rumpel]

9. Seems voter file in CA was last updated in Aug 2002

"We searched your data below on 10/25/2006 - 04:37 in our copy of the California voter file which was last updated on 08/20/2002"

[kster]

5. My Daughter voted her second time tonight

this time, all three of us, Wife, Daughter and I, voted absentee, Make sure your daughter is able to vote, make some hay, and good luck to You and Your Daughter.

MAKE IT HAPPEN!! K&R.........

[rumpel]

7. thanks. I think I'll be on the phone tomorrow

raising hell.

It has been over 2 weeks now. And we have a college boarder from Orange County, who received all the docs quite some time ago.

[madfloridian]

10. DNC has a voter hot line....

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/08/dnc_announces_e.php

The DNC's new national hotline, 1-888-DEM-VOTE, builds on the tremendous success of the toll-free number established in March 2006 by the DNC Voting Rights Institute to provide information about how and where displaced New Orleans residents could vote and to help Indiana voters disenfranchised by the Republican voter ID law passed by Indiana Republicans. It will provide critical assistance to voters all across the country, including in key electoral targets and in states facing Republican challenges to the right to vote by providing poll location information, assistance in applying for absentee ballots, and help reporting voting problems before, during, and after Election Day.

Across America, voters have confronted a dizzying array of Republican-led challenges to the right to vote. These include discriminatory voter ID laws in states like Indiana, Georgia, Ohio and Missouri; irresponsible voter registration rules in Ohio and Florida; inappropriate purges of voter lists in states like Indiana and Florida; the use of faulty election machines and inadequate machine maintenance that fail to protect the integrity of the vote; a criminal phone jamming scheme in New Hampshire; and discrepancies in election day practices that disproportionately effect rural, elderly, poor, minority, and student voters."

[niyad]

11. whatever she does, do NOT wait until election day to get it resolved!!

If nothing else works (league of women voters, your party headquarters, etc) I would recommend calling the SOS or whoever is in charge of elections, and complaining. would also call the mayor, and point out how very unhappy you are about the situation.

[kestrel91316]

12. If she is in LA Co, call LA Co Registrar of Voters. The number should be

in the front section of the white pages. Or check the county's web site.

[rumpel]

13. those are the numbers that do not work -

We tried the numbers in bold several times
the 800 number just goes silent
the other one is "not in service"

Los Angeles (19)

Conny McCormack, Registrar - Recorder/County Clerk
12400 Imperial Hwy.
Norwalk, CA 90650
P O Box 1024
Norwalk, CA 90651-1024
1-800-815-2666 (LA County Only)
[phone] Phone [phone] Fax
Hours 8:00am - 5:00pm
E-mail: [e-mail]
Website: http://www.lavote.net

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm

and this one:
Voter Registration Request Line (800) 481-VOTE (8683), which is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. posted on
http://www.lavote.net/VOTER/Voter_Registration.cfm

says:

"this office is now closed" different voice says "a registration form will be mailed to you" and just hangs up.

[kestrel91316]

15. What time of day are you calling ? If you call after hours you might get

that message.........

Call the office of your city councilperson if you are in city of LA. Better yet, call the office of your congressional representative.

[Amaryllis]

14. Link for a lot of resources on voter reg issues:

http://www.networkofcitizens.org/election/voting_information.htm

[kster]

16. K N R...nt

[rumpel]

17. Update

The 800 number DID work today, albeit there was a long wait and listening to repeated "you can vote early" until 10/25 etc.

Perhaps - their "computerized" phone system shuts down when it's overwhelmed as well as for a good nights sleep....

This is what my daughter did;
4 weeks ago, she registered online at the SOS website
2 weeks later she received the hard document from the LA County Registrar, to fill in and sign.
Exactly 2 weeks ago she mailed it back, and properly retained the stub with a number -

As per my phone call just now, the computer does not show the Registrar having received the signed document. Neither by name nor by the stub number does she come up. However, I am told, it may be still processing: in which case it will not show up in the computer. Suggestion was made, to call back on Friday or Monday.

I asked what to do, if the mail is lost.
Answer: Hmmm - I don't know.

So, I am going to bug them again.

Aside from this problem - does this mean we have a surge in registrations and they are overwhelmed? That's good. :)

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

on edit: an afterthought - considering the incredible number of registration related complaints in 2004, is it possible - that the SOS enters the registrations as they received it in the total tally on their website. But subsequently, the county through delays, for "whatever" reason, failed to confirm those registrations (in 2004, 70,000 voters) ?
Is that how the discrepancy occured? Is that how 70,000 voters were disenfrnachised in LA in 2004?
People not realizing - just waiting - not complaining - just trusting and then giving up?

:shrug:

Perhaps something to look out for...

[rumpel]

18. Sorry to bring this up again.

I have been going about this - the standard regular citizens way of inquiry.

I called every day, and by the way the number that works every time is 562-466-1323 which is printed on the stub or "Registration Form Receipt"
However, the people that answer the phone may not know much else but to check in their computer.

As per last week, a "supervisor" said, that by Tuesday all registration will have been put in the database. Tuesday came and Tuesday has completed it's work day.

I was told to call again by the end of the week to see if she is in the database.

that is when I went ballistic - I said the end of the week is way too late for me to do anything anymore - and I do not wish her to be disenfranchised already with her very first vote.

:nuke:

I also posted in CA forum to see whether it is a common problem

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=141x24875