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Registering to Vote
updated: Sep 17, 2012, 11:07 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

Has anyone had trouble with registering to vote, or updating their address with the Elections Office in Santa Barbara? I have had two major problems with them in 5 years, and would like to compare notes with others.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 321087	2012-09-17 12:18 PM
Not a bit, when we moved back here we filled out the forms, mailed them in and received voters cards back in the mail. Easy peasy.
COMMENT 321090	2012-09-17 12:23 PM
I had a problem, but not with the Registrar of Voters (so far). I went to get the form at the San Roque Post Office, and the clerk was very difficult, and told me I could not get one because they were locked in the back and she could not leave her station. I was fuming and left, ready to contact the postmaster or my congressperson. Of course, that would be frustrating, so I went back the next day and a different clerk handed me one from behind the counter. When I mentioned the incident, he immediately described who obstructed me the day before. So, was it just a clerk who is not helpful, or a person who maybe had a perception of which way I would vote, and didn't like it? I am annoyed the forms are no longer out on the counter. More importantly, I am sickened that this, the fundamental right in a democracy, is now so micromanaged, that I had to go through this. What about all the other people who don't go back or get intimidated?
COMMENT 321097P	2012-09-17 12:47 PM
090, So sorry you had a problem. That said if it is important to them that they want to vote they will make an effort to register.
COMMENT 321099	2012-09-17 12:49 PM
It sounds like the first clerk was honest with a fussy customer. The clerk later took an opportunity to move the forms to an accessible location.
COMMENT 321100	2012-09-17 12:54 PM
Registering to vote is easy. If you're changing addresses every so many years, then staying registered could be a bit of a problem--------I guess. As far as I know, you call County Elections (568-2200), you're sent a registration form, you return it , and you're done. Or you can pick up a registration form at the DMV. Or, better yet, you can haul your carcass down to City Hall or out to County Elections (4440-A Calle Real) and register there. I have worked at the voting polls since 1975, off and on. With very few exceptions, voters who arrive at the polls unregistered to vote have only themselves to blame. A lot of voters seem to have problems with making sure they are registered properly. That's why the Elections office provides "Provisional" voting at the polls.
COMMENT 321103	2012-09-17 01:03 PM
090- You can also register online as well. You didn't need to even go down there in the first place.
COMMENT 321110P	2012-09-17 01:28 PM
099 - the clerks go in the back to get an item needed when you are mailing something. Handling voter registration forms is part of their job. The clerk did not do her job. When you make excuses for bad service you continue to get bad service. A supervisor should have been notified.
COMMENT 321122	2012-09-17 02:39 PM
It's so easy, just do it online and bypass the postoffice.
COMMENT 321125P	2012-09-17 02:50 PM
Here is a link to a website where you can see if you are registered, or fill out a form to sign and send in (they need your signature on file for Provisional and mail-in ballots): http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm I too have worked the election polls for years, and I can tell you, it is a monumental task to organize such a huge, complex event like an election with primarily volunteer (small stipend) labor. The Santa Barbara Elections office is incredibly effective at it and are to be lauded. If you don't vote, you can't complain. Deadline is October 22 for November election.
COMMENT 321150P	2012-09-17 04:09 PM
Is voting worth jury duty? Not so sure anymore.
COMMENT 321151	2012-09-17 04:13 PM
If the potential of jury duty is what keeps you from being registered to vote... I just. I don't even know what to say to that. :(
COMMENT 321165	2012-09-17 04:51 PM
You don't really specify what the problem was other than an address change. Did you fill out the correct COUNTY form? Each county is different and it takes time for them to forward to a different county,(Even Ventura) Was your handwriting LEGIBLE? You would be AMAZED at how BADLY people write and expect someone to actually read it at the other end. If they can't read your name or address, that can be a real problem. Did you receive your YELLOW POSTCARD from the Elections Office? If you did, you can make the address correction on THAT and return it to the Elections Office. Did you go IN PERSON and fill out a new form? It's so freakin' easy. Jury duty is NOT determined by voting registration. There are a wide variety of avenues they get your name, including the DMV. If you fear jury duty, than perhaps democracy isn't for you.
COMMENT 321179	2012-09-17 05:16 PM
I don't have anything for the OP, but I have a related question that I hope someone here can answer for me. I recently reloced to CA. Transferred my drivers license, got new tags for my car, and registered to vote at the SB DMV in July. My new license came in the mail, but I never got any kind of voter ID. I looked myself up on the sbcassessor web site and it says I am properly registered, just wondering if I should have received some kind of documentation. In my old state you get a voter card, but you don't really need it -- the poll workers can use your drivers license to look up your info if you don't have it (they print them on plain inkjet paper, so they don't hold up very well). I think they mainly give them out to remind you where your polling station is. But I don't know how it works here. Should I have received a voter card? If so, can I still vote without it? And if I can't, where do I go to get one?
COMMENT 321195P	2012-09-17 05:37 PM
You do not need a voter card in California. If the Clerk/Recorders office says you are registered, you are registered and you can vote. You should get a voter information booklet with a sample ballot in the mail in about a month and believe it tells you where to vote. I always vote absentee by mail, because it is easier. That is easy to set up and can be done on-line also.
COMMENT 321201P	2012-09-17 05:50 PM
You will need a photo ID to vote the first time at your new precinct. After that, no.
COMMENT 321238	2012-09-17 07:45 PM
1090..... don't get mad next time, ask to see a supervisor. Always ask to go up the food chain when a low level employee forgets their job description of postal clerk not voting rights prefect. Sorry for your experience.
COMMENT 321248	2012-09-17 07:58 PM
195 and 201 - thanks for the info.
COMMENT 321258	2012-09-17 08:17 PM
The Postal Service does not run the elections nor voter registration. But what about all the fraud? Shouldn't we require a government-issued photo ID with an expiration date just to be sure that real citizens are voting instead of all those poor, non-drivers who are always the ones who commit fraud? Besides, those people vote the wrong way anyway. We also should not let students vote because they don't really live here.
COMMENT 321359	2012-09-18 07:38 AM
What fraud?
SBJULES	2012-09-18 07:48 AM
I used to work elections & the problem is that too few folks vote, not voter fraud. Also,
COMMENT 321386	2012-09-18 08:37 AM
258--Really? What a stereotypical and insensitive comment! What is the "wrong way" anyway? Just because someone does not vote the way others think they should does not make it "wrong."
SBJULES	2012-09-18 08:39 AM
One more thought...I spent some time at at the DMV recently(whar fun), but I did notice that you can register to vote there too.
COMMENT 321411	2012-09-18 09:21 AM
I called for a registration form as the one they sent me - after checking their rolls and not finding my name - and that initial form was badly damaged. Very nice person on the phone and I expect the form in a day or two.
COMMENT 321448	2012-09-18 10:10 AM
1258.... Steve Pappas is that you?
COMMENT 321466P	2012-09-18 10:57 AM
All the research shows that there has been VERY little fraud. Anyone talking about "all the fraud" is using that as an excuse to disenfranchise people he thinks are going to vote Democratic, like students!!! We see through you Mr. Pappas.
COMMENT 321492P	2012-09-18 12:14 PM
1258; sacasm
YIN YANG	2012-09-18 12:34 PM
Keep dragon bones out of peanut butter! http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-16-2012/daily-show--democalypse-2012---cockblock-the-vote
COMMENT 321549	2012-09-18 02:29 PM
Thanks for ALL your answers (I posted the question). The 2 problems I had were the following: in 2008, just before the election, they dropped my registration, saying I had moved. I had not moved. They said they were sorry and that a clerk had made a mistake. The second problem was just recently, when I was making an address update, and they entered my information wrong, including my address and birth date. I felt it was more than coincidence, and wondered if others were having problems of the same kind. After going down this morning to visit them at the Calle Real office, I see that it IS actually just incompetence. Some of the clerks are prone to inaccuracy. P.S.: I just returned from Italy, where polls are open all day SATURDAY and SUNDAY, at the minimum. We should have that.
COMMENT 321685	2012-09-19 06:40 AM
No problem, I am one of the lazy dead beat, government supported untouchable 47% or so who have absolutely nothing to do but sit around, screw the government and worry about where my my vote goes. A 71 year old vet with a busted back,a sick wife, a pregnant cat and a dog with the SB itch.

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