Et tu, West Virginia?!
Seems like just the other day I was scolding Maryland for updating its form less than 2 months before a huge election. Well, now it’s West Virginia’s turn. C'mon! Guys. Seriously, can it wait until AFTER a presidential election? You’re only hurting voters here.
Bad Maryland! Bad! No more changing your forms!
Well, no I feel kinda bad for being so hard on Virginia. Because, compared to Maryland, VA looks like the patron saint of timely updates to its forms!
WTH, MD?! You have a year-specific absentee ballot application. That means, every year, you *cough* *cough* totally unnecessarily *cough*…ahem, publish a new absentee ballot application. So don’t go changing that already yearly-changed form in the middle of an election!
We’ve had the 2012 general/primary election ballot application on our site ever since it was made available by Maryland. But today I get an email from the secretary of state’s office telling us that we have an outdated version of the form and should replace it immediately, which I did. Immediately. (There is nothing worse than providing an outdated version of a form.) But, lo, the new version was revised…when? Oh right. 9/2012. As in, this month. What.
Considering there is no “no earlier than” warning on submitting an absentee application, it’s safe to assume that some on-top-of-it voters submitted their applications beforeSeptember of this year…soooo…you gonna process those forms, MD? You betta!
I feel like all I’m doing these days is slapping my home state on the wrist, but dang if it doesn’t deserve it.
This article from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center about the rampant miscommunication between PennDOT and the DOS is pretty discouraging:
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is still falling short in its implementation of a requirement in the state’s strict new Voter ID Law that a photo ID be made available free of charge to voters who need one to cast a ballot.
…
Basic signage and information about the law are still not available at every PennDOT licensing center, although coverage has improved considerably since July.
While PennDOT centers had virtually no information about the DOS ID, there are multiple documents that reiterate strict documentation requirements for a photo ID, which can only serve to confuse less-informed voters.
Oy.
Really, Virginia? Really?
Guess who decided to update their absentee ballot application. In August. Of a major presidential election year. (Hint: it was Virginia!)
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, even louder this time, since it’s even more not OK now: C'mon, states! Stop changing your forms during the most crucial season of a major federal election. It’s just a bad idea.