newyorkette

WARNING: Don’t click on this link below till you’ve read the results of my calls and clicks!

Okay, so I have the day off today, never mind all the errands I have to do, but I decided to do my civic duty and check that the voter assistance websites and phone numbers were actuallly assisting people, since on the last day of in-person registration, they totally let us all down by giving out false information on pre-recorded (and out of date) messages, with no live operators to back them up, since it was a Saturday. Mind you, I know where and how to vote: I’m doing this to see how the system would work for someone who doesn’t know.

The first thing I did was a Google search of “voting in New York”. I came upon this phone number, listed on a few sites: 1.886.VOTE.NYC
This is the WRONG number. The correct number begins with (866), not (886). See what happens if you dial the (886) number. Imagine what you’d do if you were a less spirited person facing that crazy loop: give up, or perhaps just listen to the conspiracy theories that have begun swirling in your head?

If you find the official voter assistance website, you’ll see three options for finding out how and where to vote:

Search with the Online Poll Site Address Locator

Call the Voter Phone Bank at 1.866.VOTE.NYC

E-mail your complete home address to us at vote@boe.nyc.ny.us and we’ll e-mail your polling place location back to you. (Please put in the subject line the borough in which you reside.)

The third option is seductively easy. So I tried it. I clicked on the link, and a window opened up in my own email browser, into whose subject line I duly placed my borough, “manhattan”, and into whose body I typed in my complete address, as directed. See what happened:

From: carolitajohnson
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 10:37 AM
To: *VoterRegoutsideEmailAddress
Subject: manhattan

[imagine my complete address here, which I’ve deleted now for this post because I don’t want to give it out to the world]

Here is the reply I got:

> On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 12:50 PM, Cathy Basham 
> wrote:
>> GO TO WEB SITE
>> WWW.VOTE.NYC.NY.US
>> AND CLICK ON POLL SITE LOCATOR
>>

Hey! Why not just reply, “run around in circles, puny voter!”

So I replied:

>——-Original Message——-
> From: carolitajohnson
> Behalf Of carolita
> Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 12:58 PM
> To: Cathy Basham
> Subject: Re: manhattan
>

> Thanks for nothing, lady.
>

And to which Cathy Basham replied (note the expressive of anger/impatience all-caps answer):

On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 12:59 PM, Cathy Basham wrote:
> WHAT DID U WANT
> U SENT NOTHING BUT YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS
> YOU ARE WELCOME
>

And to which I reasonably replied:

On this website, which I presume you know about:
http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/pollingplaces.html
there are the following instructions:
E-mail your complete home address to us at vote@boe.nyc.ny.us and we’ll e-mail your polling place location back to you. (Please put in the subject line the borough in which you reside.)

It does not say to include a letter of introduction, and a Hi How are you?

-carolita johnson

 

I have not heard back. Poor Cathy.  I guess she didn’t know that all those emails would be forwarded to her. What surprises me is that I’m apparently the only one clicking that link and following instructions.  Way to get the word out, Voter Assisters!

Anyone else feel like writing to Cathy?
Here you go: CBasham@boe.nyc.ny.us

Other problems include:

• outgoing recorded message lists outdated information (such as voter registration information for past elections, as old as 2007).




• assister answering all my questions with “it’s on the website.” When I say “no it’s not,” she says, “yes it is.” Repeat.




• assister not knowing what “ex-con” means (when I asked if ex-cons can vote), or assister who knew what an ex-con was saying “only if they have finished their jail sentence and are no longer on probation or parole.” Which is not true. Parolees cannot vote, but probationers can.  Or so says another website.  Anyone know better?  Tell me.




• assister saying no political t-shirts or buttons allowed within 100 feet of the polling site, in contradiction to what I heard on the radio today.  Anyone?




• assister replying to my question of “what if it’s 8:59pm and I am on a line around the corner behind 200 people?”, with “I doubt that will happen.” When I insist is is happening right now in Florida, she says, “if you are on the premises on line, you will be allowed to vote, even if it’s after 9pm.” So I ask, “is around the corner outside considered on the premises?” And she simply repeats her first answer. Anyone?

UPDATE:
after trying several websites and phone numbers, this is my recommendation for the best, non-partisan information information online: rockthevote.org, and for the best by phone, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), where you can “oprima el numero 2” if you need spanish-language help. You can make sure you’re registered where you think you’re registered, as well as ask any question—they’re very patient—, and report any abuses you may encounter.
If you’re registered but simply don’t know where to vote, try a google maps search: maps.google.com/vote

Posted Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 1:40 pm under politics, gossip, other nonsense. Feel free to trackback from your own site. All images on newyorkette.com are the intellectual property of Carolita Johnson, and you must ask (and receive) express permission to use them or reproduce them in any way whatsoever.