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Medford voters seek affirmation on Election Day
By adamg on Fri, 10/14/2016 - 3:26pm
Unlike in more enlightened precincts, it seems voters in Medford don't get a little oval "I VOTED!" sticker when they vote.
Kristen Cantu wants to change that and has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $600, which she estimates would be enough to buy stickers for every registered voter in town.
These stickers are a way to show civic pride and remind others in our community of the importantance of voting.
As of 3:25 p.m., today, she's raised $200 in pledges.
Via Metroidbaby.
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Comments
Hmmm.
I wonder if they'll have stickers available for early voters.
What's the point?
Cambridge voter here. They always offer me one of those as I exit the polls, and I always decline. Seriously people, why do you need this kind of affirmation? What's the point?
Its kind of like when I was in first grade
The teacher would put little gold star stickers on us if we got something right.
Judging by the state of the of some of the current electorate, it seems about the right thing to be doing.
To remind others to vote?
Believe it or not, there ARE some people with their heads in the sand, particularly for local election days.
In this election (2016)
Given the choice, I'd pay extra for a sad face sticker that said: "I voted. Unfortunately."
Electronic Census
Tangentially Related: Even if you religiously vote in every election, if you don't complete your yearly street census you can be dropped from the voter rolls. So if that envelope gets lost with the junk mail or you don't have the $0.50 for a stamp, no vote for you.
The street census needs to have an electronic option like most other state interaction. They could mail a card with a PIN where you go online to confirm, much like Jury Duty. Or they could simply assume that if you haven't missed an election and that you haven't registered to vote elsewhere, then you are still a resident.
For a while I kept being dropped from the voter rolls in Medford even through I hadn't moved in years and vote in every election. (And complete my street census.) I "fixed" the problem by mailing a voter registration form once a week for two months. Finally they sent a confirmation form that I had been added to the rolls.
Medford isn't so good with the voting thing. Nice town otherwise.
No stamp needed
There are something like five separate places in town where you can drop it, including the library and city hall.
Now, the stupidity of it is that we nearly missed the kindergarten enrollment because they didn't bother using the census to notify people with children of eligible age - they only put out word through Medford preschool programs.
Not the point
Too bad I'm no where near the Library or City Hall when these buildings are open. To be clear, I can afford the stamp but given that I rarely mail things it's a hassle to need to worry about this if I want to keep voting.
They have online payments and registration for everything else EXCEPT the one thing need to keep voting. It's undemocratic.
The clerk is a complete moron
Can't handle anything complicated, total screw up with no skills, no interest in learning, etc.
Tried this move to push me off the rolls, even though I had turned in the census (and my husband wasn't purged). Why the every loving effing hell they can't look at all the water and tax bills we paid to the city, I'll never know.
When it comes to handling data, these people are losers. No wonder the new mayor is axing so many of them.
I thought if you don't fill
I thought if you don't fill out the census, you don't get dropped -- you become an inactive voter. Which means you have to show ID when you vote (or maybe prove who you are some other way f you don't have ID).
Yes.
This. At least in Somerville.
I also emailed my city census for.
That's odd
Those street census things in Chelsea come with an envelope that has one of those "Office Election Business, no postage necessary if mailed within the United States " emblems to return the survey in. I've never had to use a stamp.
Medfords do not ?
Interesting
I don't know if I'm glad that others don't have this problem or mad that Medford lacks the ability.
FIX IT, STEPHANIE!
It's also odd
because I skipped filling out my City of Boston annual census for two years because I no longer lived in Massachusetts.
During those two years, I received multiple letters from the City of Boston Election Department, addressed to my address *in a different state* informing me that I was delinquent in completing my city census and risked being dropped from the voter rolls. Two years and two months after I had moved, I received a FINAL NOTICE, informing me that I had been formally dropped as a registered voter in the City of Boston.
So they could update my address in their computer to one that was nowhere near Boston, but could not put two and two together as to why I was not completing the city census.
That does suck
Boston is set up to reply online for street census. Boo Medford.
.pdf is too scary and advanced for Medford
Now you want it online? Sheesh.
Get this: city hall is a bizarre mashup of office numbers because, as departments moved, they took their office number with them. So you can't find anything because a bunch of illiterate, lead fume damaged old people complain when things change.
You can still vote
You can still vote - you just have to fill out an affirmation and show ID. You're not off the rolls, just moved to the inactive section (at least in Somerville). It is inconvenient, as it takes extra time.
Actually, you are normally put on the inactive voter list
Which means, when you show up to vote and the pool workers determine you are on the inactive list, you have to produce an ID and fill out a form stating you are actually the person on the inactive voter list (and yes, I've had to do that exactly once in the 36+ years I've been a registered voter). I suspect you'd have to forget the town census AND not show up to vote multiple years in a row to be totally dropped off the list.
Don't live in Medford, but I've forgotten to return the town census more than once. Usually, the town clerk will send me a follow up letter or give me a phone call.
I wonder
If safe rooms will be available for Election Stress Disorder?
They will.
They are called other things like "bars", "lounges", and "tap rooms".
But Medford is a "dry city" :
But Medford is a "dry city" :)
Nope
Not anymore. Bistro 5, Snappy Patties, Carroll's, Salvatore's, watering holes like Margarita's and many others have licenses.
It is also a small city with Malden, Somerville, and Arlington nearby.
Swirls
Did they ever totally repeal it?
I know for a while, Medford wasn't dry. Liquor stores are allowed. Liquor can be served in restaurants, but bars were not allowed.
I know when the Outback, that is now closed, opened in the shopping center many years ago, they had a bar but no stools. I guess the law states that if a bar has stools, it's a 'bar room' and is illegal. But drinks could be served. (I asked why the bar had no bar stools)
No freestanding bars
Have to be a restaurant to have a bar. However, Carroll's has a bar, as does Salvatore's and Bistro 5 and Snappy's. I believe that the Chinese place in Haines Square still has one, too.
Margarita's is a chain watering hole, and they have one, too. All have stools.
But
Do the bars have stools? That's the key difference (on what I was asking)
Like I said Outback had a full sized bar. Just no stools to sit at as that is what defined it as a bar room.
Purple ink on the thumb isn't
Purple ink on the thumb isn't good enough?
American exceptionalism says
American exceptionalism says no.
Silly
Never having been given one of those "I voted" stickers, I was surprised when I learned that they are fairly common in other cities. Struck me as silly.
It is silly.
You are right.
My son got a sticker
But it was his first time, and I think that particular Medford poll worker kept her own stash just for that.
Can they mail out those stickers?
I need one to wear to work that afternoon, after I sleep in and play video games.