Voter sign-up drive error a shame
One of my favorite quotes is “Hindsight is 20/20.” It seems to apply in multiple situations in life and it helps people learn from their mistakes.
The quote seems to be really applicable in the realm of politics. Politicians can often learn from the moronic things they say and avoid the spotlight in the future. But there is one recent mistake, not made by a politician, I would like to see avoided in the future.
First of all, I love politics. Behind sports, it is my favorite thing to read about. I’ve followed politics closely since my sophomore year in high school, during the last presidential election.
Before that, I never really had any interest in it. But I slowly began to learn more. I studied and watched shows about politics. Basically, I was about the coolest kid in school. Sort of.
I watched “The Daily Show” religiously. It was my major source for news, though I still watched the news and read stories online.
In 2006, I voted for the first time. Although it was for local office and a few representatives, I still felt empowered. I felt like I had control over a small section of northern Illinois.
And I could not wait until I got the opportunity to vote again. And that chance came the next year when I voted for governor. And I felt like I had even more power.
And this year I finally hit the big time. I finally got to vote for the president. I felt like my vote meant so much and had so much power behind it.
But I heard distressing news the other week. I had heard about the Black Student Union and the voter registration drive they had on campus. The drive included about 45 people who were either registering to vote or applying for absentee ballot.
Unfortunately, when the applications were sent off to the Indiana Elections Division, the United States Postal Service – the best, and simultaneously the worst postal system in the country – lost one of the envelopes.
I am in no way blaming the Black Student Union for what happened. Losing the envelope likely was entirely a mistake made by the mail carriers.
But I believe the situation could have been avoided. All the power I felt when I voted was exhilarating. Something as powerful as a vote cannot be left in the hands of mail carriers.
In matter of full disclosure, I am a bit of a hypocrite. I voted by absentee ballot. I used the postal system to ensure my vote would be counted.
But I chose to vote absentee. I could have driven back to Illinois to vote, but I did not feel like driving eight hours. These students would have had the ability to vote here. But since the applications went missing, the students lost out on their chance.
The excitement I felt during my first time voting was a great experience. And now these students will not be able to experience that for another four years.
A word of advice to student organizations: Next time you conduct a voter registration drive, deliver the ballots to the Elections Division by hand. That way, there’s no confusion as to where they should be mailed, and there’s no risk anybody’s application won’t make it into the right hands.
