Jun 30 2005
Why Didn’t I Get a Voter ID Card?
Thanks for the ideas that have been posted. The first issue I’d like to address is voter ID cards.
First I want to point out that no one needs a voter ID card in order to vote on election day. We’ve had this question over the years and it is one of our Frequently Asked Questions in the voter guide my office issues.
We have procedures in place to make sure that every valid registration application results in a new voter ID card being sent out. An employee in my office takes a stack of voter registration applications (both new registrations and address changes) and enters the information into our voter database. (In another post I’ll explain how complicated this process is.) Each time a voter is registered and each time their address information is changed, the computer automatically prints out a new voter ID card. The person who entered the voter registration information into the computer takes those voter registration applications and the voter ID cards and gives them to another individual. That person proofs the ID cards to make sure that information was entered correctly and that all the voter registration applications have a corresponding voter ID card. The “proofer” then puts the voter ID cards with the outgoing mail which is handled by a combination of county administrative staff and a mail house.
So why do so many people say they didn’t have a card sent to them?
Here are possible reasons that I see.
The voter received a card and didn’t realize it. Our voter ID cards are postcards. Some people may be expecting a card to show up in an envelope. As a postcard it may have slipped inside a magazine or sale flyer. We use a postcard for speed and cost savings.
The postcard gets lost in the mail before arriving at the home. Once the postcard leaves our office we can not control how long it takes to get to the voter or whether it ever gets there.
The voter ID card gets destroyed in the mail. This has happened rarely. When the destroyed card is returned to us, if we can discern which voter it was, we mail out a new card.
The address given by the voter was insufficient. If a voter forgets to put down an apartment number or dorm address or puts an incorrect city, they may not receive a voter ID card.
For security and fraud protection, voter registration information which is mailed out is marked Return Service Requested. If the post office does not have the voter as a resident at the address listed on the voter registration application, the voter ID card will be returned.
The voter registered in another county. We have had voters contact us and ask about their registration and we look at our records and learn they filled out a form for another county.
Someone else in the household mishandled the card. Many students live with roommates. It may be that a roommate threw the voter card away or misplaced it.
The voter registration was rejected. In another post I will address why registration applications may get rejected.
The ID card may be in the mail. Sometimes the ID card has been sent out weeks after the voter registered. This may have happened for a number of reasons (yet another topic for later).
We receive a number of calls about voter ID cards not showing up. However, it doesn’t appear to us that the number is as large as the ‘street’ talk suggests. Any voter who says they didn’t receive a card can call our office any time to receive a new card.
I think this is also a good opportunity to promote the feature on our website which allows voters to check their registration status on line. This feature has allowed many people to find out that they are registered.
I hope this clarifies a little more the process whereby voter ID cards are mailed out.
This was helpful — although I’m not sure about the subtext of your explanations for lost cards, which seems to be that students (or their roommates) are too irresponsible to be trusted with a postcard.
I look forward to your answering the other questions we’ve posted.
And thanks for mentioning the web site for checking registration status. I find it difficult to use. I tried to check my registration on the web site, but it took me four attempts to find my entry. I finally located my information by misspelling my first name. That seems like pretty sensitive software, and less persistent voters would probably give up.
Ann -
Out of the 9 explanations, only 1 referred to students and it suggested that card may be lost by accident, not by irresponsibility. Take off the partisan bifocals and try reading the post again.
Hey Campbell,
What’s wrong with being partisan? I mean, Shelden is partisan, right? He’s always endorsing Republican candidates — John Piland, Tim Johnson, and he actually said that Alan Keyes — who probably couldn’t have told you where Champaign County was before he got shlepped here by his handlers in his Senate campaign — was better qualified than Barack Obama. (For the record, only 32% of Champaign County agreed with him; Obama won 65% of the vote in Champaign County.)
So do you object to Shelden’s partisanship? And if you don’t object to his partisanship, how can you object to mine?
I don’t think partisanship is a dirty word, and neither does Shelden, I’m guessing. So why don’t we just skip all the blathering about it and admit that the Clerk is a political office, and his conduct in office is a subject of political debate — which is what we’re having right now. So get used to it. I’m sure Shelden is up for it. I just wish his supporters were too.
Anna, you’re right. I shouldn’t have said you were partisan, just dishonest. Thanks for the correction.
I wasn’t going to waste the bandwidth, but I really can’t let a charge of dishonesty slide.
First, remember that the question I asked — and the one Shelden was presumably responding to — was why some *students* didn’t get cards while others did. It’s not terribly surprising that I would read his post as answering that question.
Having said that, I would say that 5 of his responses related to *voter* irresponsibility — if you prefer the generic term.
1) Voters don’t realize they’ve received the card because, presumably, they’re too simple to read the postcard.
2) Voters don’t know how to write their own addresses accurately.
3) Voters are committing fraud by providing addresses where they are not residents.
4) Voters don’t even realize what counties they are registering in.
5) And finally, the bad roommate messing with the voter’s mail.
That’s my interpretation. You’re free to disagree or disagree with my characterization of his answers, but charging me with dishonesty is really nothing but name-calling.
But at least we’ve dropped the pretense that only some of us are partisan. So I guess that’s progress.
Anna - I’m not partisan, I just don’t like dishonesty.
“Having said that, I would say that 5 of his responses related to *voter* irresponsibility”
- Hmmm, I didn’t the word “irresponsibility” anywhere in his post. Oh right, that’s YOUR take on students, or *voters*. You think students are irresponsible while the original post suggests that some make common mistakes like everyone else.
“1) Voters don’t realize they’ve received the card because, presumably, they’re too simple to read the postcard.”
- Wow, the original post suggests it gets mixed in with other junk mail or that it might be the first time some voters receive one, so they might be expecting an envelope. You think those voters are “too simple”. That’s a bit arrogant.
“2) Voters don’t know how to write their own addresses accurately.”
- Yes, sometimes people make mistakes, except for you of course.
“3) Voters are committing fraud by providing addresses where they are not residents.”
- What? Someone trying to commit voter fraud in Illinois? Its been known to happen now and then.
“4) Voters don’t even realize what counties they are registering in.”
- Yes, sometimes new residents aren’t familiar with the county, though I’m sure you’ve always had your government memorized from top to bottom.
“5) And finally, the bad roommate messing with the voter’s mail.”
- Roommates messing with each others stuff? Talk to the residence hall directors about roommate complaints. There are a few.
The original post provides some logical explanations as to why some voters didn’t receive their registration cards. You infer that they were withheld maliciously. That charge was invested with no finding of impropriety. Now since you don’t have proof to dispute those findings you try to miscast the original post as some kind of attack on voters. That makes you dishonest.
Personally, I think Mr. Shelden addressed the question regarding voter id cards thoroughly. It sounds to me like some people can’t accept honest answers to their questions. Instead of accepting them as honest answers they twist them to fit into one of their “theories” of why things didn’t go their way on election day. Why accept the real answers? Because once those questions are answered they wouldn’t have anything to cry foul about when the next election rolls around.
Also, I know a lot of people that accidently throw things away or assume something isn’t important and misplace it. I am a college student, and while I can’t speak for every college student I’ve done plenty of things by accident and I’ve made plenty of careless mistakes. The difference is I’m responsible enough to admit when I make a mistake, and I don’t run and blame someone else. Shocking as it sounds not every person/student is this way. It’s much easier to blame someone else then accept responsibility.
I would also like to mention that while I don’t agree with all of anna’s observations/perceptions I do like to see her view of things. I hope she continues to post and bring to light her perspective. This should only help everyone in future elections.
Campbell, you get the last word.
I just hope that our spat won’t distract Mr. Shelden from using this space to answer the important questions about how the Clerk’s office is run.
I think some people should have their attention drawn toward the Blog Comment Policy. This is a rare opportunity to have a public official making a forum available with instant feedback, and it’s something that I’d like to see stick around for a while. Attacking each other doesn’t really add to the discussion to the original post at hand. If you want to attack me for saying what I just said, e-mail me directly: kiyoshimartinez@gmail.com and keep it off of this thread.
With that said, some thoughts on the post:
I think the fact that the Voter ID card isn’t required to vote is something that needs to be publicized and made known by those who are signing up people to vote. Yes, it would be nice to have one, but I get really discriminatory about relying on the USPS, especially for something as important as voter registration.
Also, the fact that you can look up your current voter registration status online is something that should be promoted by people getting voters to sign-up. Granted, not everyone has access to a computer in their homes, but for the student population… that’s doubtable, concerning we are one of the most wired campuses.
Personally, the issue of the voter ID cards has been settled for me. There are other issues that have been mentioned in the comments in other posts that I’m looking forward to explainations for.
Mostly, I’m curious to hear a full argument against a bi-partisan or non-partisan election commission.