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Voting is for people who are committed to voting. Drive by voters are gonna get shafted. People who don't vote in primaries are gonna get shafted, because they won't know if their registration is valid until the big day.

I had to laugh when my son, the twenty-something democrat, claimed he was cheated out of voting -- in Manhattan. Like voting in Manhattan is controlled by evil Republicans.

Did he register well in advance? I don't think so. Did he vote in a primary, sop he could at least be sure he was on the list? I don't think so.

"People who don't vote in primaries are gonna get shafted, because they won't know if their registration is valid until the big day."

Fortunately, or unfortunately, an invalid or non-existent registration does not mean one will not be able to vote.

I'm an election judge, and in all the major elections, I've had to allow everyone to vote unless it is obvious that they are in the wrong precinct. All they must do is sign the affidavit list, which, due to the form and the fact that there are so many on a list, has a very unofficial - read "taken lightly" - feel to it.

Some of those ballots (not all, since we don't "question" certain excuses ...that I wont name here) are filed as challenged, always by me, because I see no evidence of their registration, but they could also be challenged by an observer. Those ballots are held separate for later confirmation. But I still must tally and include them in the overall results. I have always been uncomfortable with this. Because they are only researched (at least in a timely manner) if there is a dispute or very close results.

It may not seem to be a lot in each precinct, but they could easily add up enough to affect the outcome. Especially if a concerted effort was made by those who know how we work.

It all boils down to a trade-off:

People justifiably scream loudest when they registered in good faith but are not allowed to cast their vote - whether their registration got lost due to the ineptitude of the DMV or more sinister plots of those with an agenda.

On the other hand, it is a lot more difficult to identify fraud - especially in the current (and I think fouled-up) system of voter reg.

It's sad that we sacrifice the integrity of our elections just to relieve lazy adults of the effort it would take to sign up through their local registrar.

</rant>