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Dear Mr. Logan*,
I am a non-partisan voter living overseas in England who is registered to vote by mail permanently. I received the enclosed letter, which is intended to allow me to opt to fill out a partisan primary ballot if I wish, on Friday 16 March. Unfortunately, that is also the date by which the form must be returned. The letter is dated 8 March.
Please note that because you only post these letters one week before the deadline, it is impossible for overseas voters to return them before the deadline, as it takes 5-7 working days for such a form to be delivered to those voters in the first place. I realise that the percentage of non-partisan voters who are registered to vote by mail is rather small. I also suspect that the majority of those voters live in the United States, where they are likely to receive the forms within 1-2 working days and can easily send them back before the deadline. But part of the point of a democracy is to permit all constituents an equal opportunity to cast their votes, and this process clearly denies overseas non-partisan voters the chance to vote for certain candidates in the primary elections.
I hope that this disenfranchisement of overseas non-partisan voters is not intentional. I am enclosing the signed form even though the deadline has passed. I hope this will encourage rectification of the practice of sending out these letters only one week in advance of the deadline.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours sincerely,
[real name & address supplied]
* Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk of Los Angeles County, California
I am a non-partisan voter living overseas in England who is registered to vote by mail permanently. I received the enclosed letter, which is intended to allow me to opt to fill out a partisan primary ballot if I wish, on Friday 16 March. Unfortunately, that is also the date by which the form must be returned. The letter is dated 8 March.
Please note that because you only post these letters one week before the deadline, it is impossible for overseas voters to return them before the deadline, as it takes 5-7 working days for such a form to be delivered to those voters in the first place. I realise that the percentage of non-partisan voters who are registered to vote by mail is rather small. I also suspect that the majority of those voters live in the United States, where they are likely to receive the forms within 1-2 working days and can easily send them back before the deadline. But part of the point of a democracy is to permit all constituents an equal opportunity to cast their votes, and this process clearly denies overseas non-partisan voters the chance to vote for certain candidates in the primary elections.
I hope that this disenfranchisement of overseas non-partisan voters is not intentional. I am enclosing the signed form even though the deadline has passed. I hope this will encourage rectification of the practice of sending out these letters only one week in advance of the deadline.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours sincerely,
[real name & address supplied]
* Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk of Los Angeles County, California
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It's not a ballot. It's the form that lets me request a partisan ballot for the California primary in June.
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