On the day of the New York Primary, I drove to pick up my friend, Leo, and take him to vote in his first election. I had previously voted by mail, but he wanted the experience of having his first vote be in person. When looking up his polling location, his name could not be found in the registration although he had registered through vote.org on April 22, two months before the primary and well before the deadline. We called the Board of Elections who directed us to come to their office and sort things out in person.
We arrived at 12:13p.m. Upon arriving, he was told his registration was invalid. No reason was given, just that it was invalid, and he could not vote in today’s election. I knew his rights as someone who actively participates in voter registration and we demanded to present his case to a judge and vote affidavit. The re-registering, waiting, and signing papers every fifteen minutes went on for an hour.
By 1:30, Leo had signed everything necessary and we were to wait for a response from the judge. A woman who had been sitting next to us asked if we were ready to wait another three hours as the issue had happened to her; she was waiting for the judge’s decision for over two and a half hours. We waited in a small room with this woman for another hour until the receptionist came back and told the woman the judge had approved her voting and that she could vote on a machine whilst skipping the hour-long line outside.
At 3:15pm, three hours after we walked in, I was about to leave to refill the car meter when the receptionist finally came out and said the judge approved his right to vote. He was given a dozen papers in a manilla envelope and we were told he was allowed to vote in today’s election… after we drove to his regular polling location a half hour away.
At 4pm, we arrived at his polling location and Leo finally voted for the first time: an over four-hour long practice. In wondering why young people do not vote, look no further than one example among thousands around the country. The process to vote should be an effortless and quick experience yet remains one that continuously discourages voters from actively engaging in their democracy, especially those without the people or resources to show them how to.
Cornell Votes and all our members are here to help all voters with how to vote, educating them on their rights as voters, and being a resource for all those voting for the first time and for the hundredth. Get out the vote and know that all voices deserve to be heard.
Every Person, Every Voice.