My Dad is one of my favorite people. He is a Korean War Veteran and is very proud of his time served on the USS St. Paul. He fought for this country and he is one of my heros...kind of...he just moved from kind of to most definately - over the jump for why I say kind of...
My father fought for this country - he has medals to prove his courage and honor. My father loves his country - he just hates politicians... My father, the veteran, the one who fought for my right to vote...does NOT vote. He has NEVER voted - not once. He turned 77 this year. He used to think all politicians were full of it. Lies nothing but Lies. Since my father thought they were nothing but liars he has never taken the time to sift through info on voter issues.
This year is different...my father - my.father. is engaged. He is paying attention to this election and when I come over he always has questions or wants to talk about the latest election news.
So today was the day....he FINALLY registered to VOTE! I am so excited I could scream! I helped him fill out the paperwork and he is so happy that our state has vote by mail (another reason for not voting - not wanting to wait in any lines - and there is no convincing him there are not really any lines in our area).
One more vote for Barack Obama ~ I am so glad that this election, this vote will be my father's first, because this is the most important vote in his life.
*Updated*
I am updating for a few reasons:
#1 - I wanted to let bnk know - Sadly...my dad is not in a purple state - he lives in True Blue California : (
#2 - I had some questions of the Clerk-Recorders office and I still feel uneasy of the answers (I know many on DKos have registered voters and I would appreciate feedback on the answers from the CR).
First question was do I need to mail in a copy of his drivers license (since this is his first time registering EVER) she asked if he had registered at some point in his life and I said no - she double checked and found that to be a true statement.
Next she asked if I was filling out a regular form or filling on out online. I told her online and she said to (right by the "for office info only box") to write in Place of Birth and to write in the State or Country that my father was born in.
Last but not least - I asked if he needed to wait for the "ok" that he was registered before
he applied for a permanent vote by mail - she said we could just write it on his registration and that would be fine. I hate to be so anal but apparently the first girl that gave me some of the info really doesn't work in elections/voting and was trying to "make her way through" until the actual person got off the phone. Some of these answers came from her some came from the elections lady.
I just want to make sure this sounds good to you all because this is HUGE that my dad would even register....for him to be this into it and then not even get his ballot would really be a downer. Thanks for the feedback in advance. Also that for the blessings and well wishes for my dad (in comments below) - I love the Kos community!