10 October 2008

We have voted!

Or at least we think we have?!

OFFICIAL GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT - BALOTA OFICIAL DE ELECCION GENERAL
November 4, 2008 - 4 de noviembre, 2008

SANDOVAL COUNTY Precinct 054

I posted previously about requesting our absentee ballots and a few days ago we received emails from the Sandoval County Clerk with our ballots and instructions for faxing them in. This was a surprise to us as there was nothing on the county website indicating they would do this, we expected them to arrive by mail. One problem; the email included a form to fax in the ballot and this required a Public Notary, Italy does not have Public Notaries as they do in the US. After several emails back and forth with the county it was clarified we can just complete the ballots and mail them back without the Public Notary.

So in essence we print the ballot and just stick it in an envelope and mail it back, nothing needed to show who we are or why we are qualified to vote. The thought enters my head that an unscrupulous person could email these ballots to hundreds of others to complete and mail back thus skewing the results. I mentioned in the previous post about irregularities in New Mexico voting and this is just another example of why.

I have also learned from other expats that the process for absentee voting various from state to state and even county to county within a state. Not that much different than some of the issues we have seen with Italian bureaucracy. Is the system broke?

Off to the post office with crossed fingers that our ballots make it back to New Mexico and become part of the final tally.

29 October: I have verified that Sandoval county has indeed received or absentee ballots...at least the postal systems did not fail us this time.

5 comments:

Carol ReMarks said...

I just did mine too because we will be in Italy during the elections!

Barbara said...

Bravi! We just voted too and are lucky enough to have someone who will take our ballots back to the states to be mailed there! Still.....I'm praying they make it to the right place!

Anonymous said...

With Sandoval County, I guess the mantra could be "vote early and often"!

marybeth said...

Bryan,
for future reference, you can find a Notary at the U.S. Consulate, if you really need one. I had to have a form notarized recently and went to the U.S. Consulate in Florence to get it done. I made an appointment online the day before...it only took about 15 minutes once I got there, and cost about 20 euros.
But finding a nearby Consulate could be a hassle....it's great you were able to bypass it.
Marybeth

Bryan said...

I am glad to hear others are participating in the process - get out and vote.

Marybeth, I knew about the embassy option but we are in Ascoli, 3 hour drive plus dealing with getting into the centro.