Rock The Vote is effin up

The New York Times reported that Rock the Vote--a popular online voter registration hub targeted towards the young adult demographic--directed users to mail in their voter registration forms to the wrong address.

The f?

I registered here in Queens using Rock The Vote and after a month or so of hassle, finally confirmed my registration. RTV directs you to mail your forms in to the NY State Board of Elections office located in Albany, NY. This office, according to the Times and to a rep from the office whom I spoke via telephone with does not handle voter registration--you're supposed to register with your county (in NYC, borough) board of election office.


JUMP to learn more.



The woman I spoke with told me that every voter registration form they received had to be opened and then re-sent, causing a HUGE delay. In addition to this, one of the Queens Board of Elections office rep's I spoke with while trying to figure my own registration mess out told me that they receive 10,000 applications per day, and that on average it took 21 days to process just one application. He also told me that if my form didn't make it to them by the deadline, I could "try again next time". Um, fuck you?

I ended up sending a second application in, on the October 10th deadline, just in case my original form (sent in September) hadn't made it to the Queens office. I just received my voter registration card on Friday.

Rock the Vote claims that they had written confirmation (twice) from the NYS Board of Elections that the Albany address was the correct one, and that the United States Election Assistance Commission had also confirmed the address. They accused the Times of "sloppy journalism", in an email that they sent to all those who had registered with RTV.


Read the NY Times article here.

If you registered with RTV, I'd advise you to call your county board of elections to verify your registration ASAP, especially if you haven't recieved your card yet; you cannot vote without it! When I called, I had to speak to three different people from 2 different offices before I got any answers. Be persistant! Do not let a lazy worker or incorrect information steal this election from you! (RTV said that in NY state, it is suspected that there are 35,000-40,000 forms stuck in backlog)

Check the status of your registration online here.

Visit the NYC Board of Elections website if you live within the 5 boroughs to find information/phone numbers for your specific office: http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/

Call 866-VOTE-NYC for more info.