My absentee ballot arrived in a charmingly hand-addressed envelope from the Allegheny County Board of Elections. Tucked inside were return envelopes and instructions, plus the most poorly pasted-up and over-copied sheet of paper I’ve seen in decades.
Look, Ma, I made it myself!
It’s all very homespun, including the apology from the Division Manager of the Department of Administrative Services Election Division:
Because there is insufficient time to print and distribute the official absentee ballot for the November 2, 2004 Presidential Election, we have prepared the enclosed Write-In Ballot for you to vote and return by the October 29, 2004 deadline.
OK. Fair enough…no fancy printing. But doesn’t Allegheny County have word processors?
At the minimum, you think they could have at least lined up the boxes and hidden the lines from the scotch tape. Shoddy workmanship doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the electoral process.
Hey, what’s this typed at the bottom of the ballot?
But, no. There is nothing “over.” And no information in the instructions, cover lettor or list of candidates. I wonder what the special question was supposed to be? And more importantly, does its absence invalidate my ballot??
