In my last diary, "Something is Rotten in the State of California", I wrote about one of my students who'd registered on campus at the community college for which I teach. In that diary, I wrote that he'd been registered as a Republican (he isn't) and that he'd been registered in a different county.
It turns out my student actually does live in that other county. He just didn't know it. He's right on the other side of the county line--he thought he lived in Riverside County, but he actually lives in San Bernardino County. Go figure. Moreover, his polling place turned out to be the church down the block from him.
Crisis averted, at least in his case.
All my students who wanted to vote did so, including my evening 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. class's students, for whom I allowed an excused absence as long as they provided proof--any proof--that they actually voted Tuesday night. One of those students made it to her polling place with just fifteen minutes to spare after working all day and showing up to class.
I'm puzzled as to why the GOP is re-registering people as Republican, though. It makes very little sense. With California's new open primary, a voter's party affiliation matters almost as much as the color of her or his shirt. It can't have anything to do with redistricting, because that ship has sailed. So why bother? Am I overlooking some advantage to registering unwilling independents and Democrats as Republicans? Because that did, in fact, happen to my student.