I should say first that I live in the great state of Ohio, county of Belmont. This is a largely rural area with less than 100,000 residents in the county. My own voter registration problems didn't really set off any bells or whistles but after hearing of a similar story I have to wonder if this is more widespread.
More below the fold...
Back in June my divorced was finalized and I took back my maiden name. Around the 3rd week of June I sent in an updated form to the state of Ohio, showing my name change. I never got a notice in the mail that the state had received the form. This is not unusual by all accounts. On October 4th, the last day of voter registration, I called my county board of elections to ask if they had updated my updated information. The woman on the phone could not find me under the new name. So she asked for my old information. Not only was my old information still showing in the system but I was considered an inactive voter because I "had not voted in 2000". Well, I certainly did vote in 2000. I remember very clearly voting for Ralph Nader. (Don't hate me! I learned from my mistake) Of course, it was useless to argue, so I hauled ass to the county board of elections to re-register with the correct information. I squeaked in with 10 minutes to spare before the office closed for the night.
Last week I spoke with my new neighbor about the problems I had. She had just moved into the neighborhood a couple of months ago and sent paperwork to the state reflecting her new address. Keep in mind that she and her husband both filled out papers and mailed them together in the same envelope. She was concerned and called the county board of elections in Bellaire OH to see if her own information had been updated. The computerized system shows her husband's updated information but hers is nowhere to be found. One of the workers at the election board has suggested to her that she fill out a provisional ballot at the polling place where she should vote. Is this correct? I have no idea. I also have no idea where to find information on the proper procedures.
I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist and my own voter registration problems didn't cause of lot of alarm (I thought it was a simple error), but to find two people on the same street who have experienced the same issue ...well, it's enough to make me wonder just what is going on in Ohio.