Inactive Voters Get Dropped--Check Your Registration!

As the election seasons intensifies, and although November 4th may still seem like a significant time away, it will be important for GLBT voters and our allies to check, and double-check our voter registrations to ensure that we will be able to cast our votes in 2008.  Many people, for a variety of reasons, often find themselves thinking that they are registered to vote in their local precinct, and invariably end up being very disappointed and left feeling disenfranchised on Election Day.

In fact, in February 2008 during the Virginia Presidential Primary, at my polling place alone, Fairfax County's Woodlawn precinct in the Mount Vernon Magisterial District, there were more than 100 persons who showed up to vote and were not able to do so, for a variety of reasons.

One fact that is not commonly known is that the Virginia State Board of Elections routinely removes voters from the registration rolls when a voter is inactive for a period of greater than four years.  Other typical problems include people who submit registration applications at the Department of Motor Vehciles (DMV) that are incomplete or contain illegible items or even simple typographical errors.  Often times, the Electoral Board is unable to contact the voter to correct the mistake before an election, and other times they cannot reach the person.

Don't let any of these mistakes happen to you, people.  First off, check your registration status right now.  If you are not registered, register right now!  Download the Virginia Voter Registration Application form, print it, fill it out, and submit it to your local Registrar's Office and wait to receive your registration card in the mail (you should receive it within 30 days, and if you don't you need to contact that office, immediately).

Fairfax County's Voter Registration Office is at the following location:

You may also reach the Fairfax County Registrar by telephone at 703-222-0776, and by fax at 703-324-2205.  The office's email address is voting@fairfaxcounty.gov and the web site is here.  The office is open on business days from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

So, don't become a voting casualty statistic, folks.  After all, Virginia is expected to be one of the most competitive states in the nation in 2008's federal elections.  Make sure your voice and your vote are counted.