I recieved a postcard from the Kansas City Board of election commissioners:
Postal information indicates you may have moved. Sign and return this notice to keep your registration current. Failure to complete and retrun this form may result in cancellation of your registration.
I have lived at this address for 11 years. I have voted in the last 3 presidential elections, as well as the midterms. I recieve my voter registration postcard regularly, before every local and general election days.
What "postal information" do they have which might indicate I have moved?
Registrants still in the Kansas City part of Jackson county make [sic] their records current by completing and signing this form.
Yes, in case you were wondering, Jackson County is a heavily Democratic county, and has a high African American population.
As to the above, I am assuming they meant to say "need to make their records current." Because if they meant to say "make their records current" that implies that this is some kind of regular procedure, like getting your DMV tags. As I have never received a notice like this before, that is simply crap.
It goes on:
Any voter who has not changed his or her residence . . . shall return this card not later than the fourth Wednesday prior to the next election.
If I am not mistaken, that means I have to return the card in 4 days.
If this card is not returned by this date, oral or written affirmation of the voter's address may be required at the polling place before the voter will be permitted to vote in an election.
This requirement begins on the date of this notice and ends on the day after the second general election that occurs after the date of this notice. Any voter who does not vote in an election during that period will have his or her name removed from the list of eligible voters.
If you read it closely, it does not say anything new. Poll workers often say, "are you still at such an such addresss?" And you say yes. Or they ask to see your licence, a checkbook, or your voter postcard.
Furthermore, it is general policy that if a voter does not vote in two consecutive general elections, they may be asked to re-register.
But you have to read it closely, don't you? On the face of it, it sounds rather alarming, like a letter telling you your phone service is about to be cut off. And if you are a resident, and find this postcard amongst the pile of bills, read it, look at the dates and so forth, you might think you won't be eligible to vote, or that you will be harrassed at the polls.
And, if you aren't a political junkie who knows all about voter caging, and the techniques used to shove people off of the rolls, you probably think this is legit.
Am I paranoid? Or have I been put on a caging list? Please advise!
UPDATE: Last week my husband's parents were contacted by a gentleman who came to the door asking for their son. His parents, not knowing the guy from Adam, were very reticent to give any information. They live across the state line, in Kansas. After the third visit, my father-in-law asked for a name, and the man gave it. Now anyone can look in the Kansas City phonebook (or on google, or facebook, or a dozen other places) and find my husband's name and current address. My husband was a bit paranoid, hearing this, googled the guy's name, and found out he was a canvasser for a conservative group. Since my husband is registered as an independent, he figured that's why the guy came by his parents' house. But neither of us could figure out why the guy didn't look in the phone book. Now, I think this may be the "postal information" that "indicates you may have moved."