Come oh come ye tea-thirsty restless ones -- the kettle boils, bubbles and sings, musically. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
Good evening, Kibitzers! You may have read this unruly diary yesterday, during the course of its unattended evening at large. I had queued it to the group early, because I am out until late on Wednesday evenings and away from home all day on Thursdays. It lured poor bastrop into releasing it, and then it fled from him, giggling, and he could do nothing but change its title to warn you all of its renegade status.
So anyway, I've already voted! We've all heard about states that have early-voting days when polling places are open (and, sadly, the legal battles that go on there to keep early-voting hours), and we know about the three states that have chosen the intelligent option of conducting all voting by mail. But in fact, there are only 14 states that have no in-person early voting and require an excuse to cast an absentee ballot by mail.
New Jersey is one of 27 states (plus D.C.) that offer no-excuse absentee voting. Actually, it's one of six states (plus D.C.) that allow anyone to sign up for permanent absentee voting, where they will automatically send a mail-in ballot for November general elections until the voter tells them otherwise. (Seven more states allow that for certain classes of voters, mostly those with a permanent disability.) I haven't signed up for permanent mail-in voting -- yet -- because I hang on to a certain nostalgia for walking to my polling place on a crisp November day, but I must say that voting by mail will make next Tuesday go a lot more smoothly for me.
It was very easy to apply, since I was already registered. In New Jersey, although Chris Christie undoubtedly wishes otherwise, the state has a very clear website explaining how to register and how to obtain a mail-in ballot. The necessary forms are by county, are available in Spanish as well as English, and, unlike actual ballots, can be downloaded and printed out at home to be mailed or returned in person to the County Clerk, if one has the convenience of a printer at home. Here, I'll show you the operative part of the application. It doesn't ask any reason for requesting it, and they'll mail it to you at an address other than the one where you're registered. I had mine mailed to my dad's, so that I wouldn't lose any days by having it show up right after I'd checked the mail at my house. As you can see, they validate the request by your signature, just as they do at our polling places.
They were extremely prompt in sending my ballot. It, of course, is a whole little kit, including machine-readable ballot with little ovals to be filled in completely with pencil or dark ink, inner envelope with tear-off vote-certification flap where you attest to your identity, and outer mailing envelope. I filled it out and got it right back in the mail, and voila! Voting!
Now, why on earth isn't this available everywhere?
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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