I’m one of NYC’s 125,000 ‘ghosts’ who couldn’t cast their vote

According to the New York City Board of Elections, I’m a ghost.

I was registered as an independent at my previous address in New Jersey, where I participated in the 2008 and 2012 elections without a hitch.

I expected things to be just as simple in the Big Apple.

Boy, was I wrong.

I moved to Brooklyn in July 2015. After doing due diligence on the candidates, I decided to register as a Democrat with the specific intentions of voting in Tuesday’s presidential primary.

I printed and mailed my registration on March 13 to the Board of Elections, well ahead of the March 25 deadline for new residents.

I never heard back. So a week ago, I checked my voter registration status. I was told I wasn’t registered at all, let alone as a Democrat.

I checked to see if I was still registered under my previous addresses in the Garden State, and nothing came up.

I even searched with a misspelled name and address several times in case my registration was processed with errors, and still, according to every conceivable board of elections, I do not exist.

I’m a ghost. In fact, I’m not even sure how I’m typing this right now unless someone else in the office is a practicing necromancer.

I contacted the city’s Board of Elections as soon as I learned that my registration wasn’t processed, but no one bothered returning my emails.

I followed up on Primary Day, and got an email asking if I wanted to “chat.” When I replied, nothing happened.

Like Mayor Bill de Blasio, I am “confused” by the discrepancies in the city’s voter rolls. Like Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander, I find the voter purges “weird” and “troubling.” Like many disenfranchised voters, I’m frustrated, disgusted and disheartened with the abuse of the democratic process.

And like many taxpayers, I’m wondering why the Board of Elections hasn’t had mass firings for admittedly failing to maintain its records over the past six to eight months.

As long as I’m a ghost, I plan on haunting the board until this is remedied, but I’m not the Casper type. I’m a poltergeist. We’re loud. We’re stubborn. And we think voting is a civic duty that incompetent bureaucrats shouldn’t take from us.


Written By Jessica Sager

Source: The New York Post