Here's what happened to me one year:
I registered to vote on my 18th birthday. At the time, I had to produce a birth certificate to prove my age and citizenship. I also had to provide some proof of residence, and I was lucky because I happened to have a bank statement in my own name with my address on it. A notarized statement of residence would suffice, however.
Nowadays, with the Motor Votor (Fraud) Law, all you need to do is sign a paper that says, "I promise that I am who I say I am, that I am 18, and that I am a citizen eligible to vote in the USA and NY State." No proof of identity is required.
Anyway...ten years goes by and I'm 28. For the past ten years I'd been voting in the exact same polling place. But this particular year (the first time Rudy ran for mayor of NYC and lost to Dinkins), I went to the school to vote and WHAMMO! they tell me I am not on the rolls.
"OK," I said, "What do I do?"
"Oh," the lady replied, "all you have to do is fill out this write-in vote and you're all set."
"OK," I said, and proceeded to do exactly that. When I came back to the table to hand in my ballot, I had my voter registration card and driver's licence out for inspection.
"We don't need any of that," the lady told me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, "How do you know I am who I say I am? I could be anybody!"
"We aren't allowed to ask for ID," she said. And she wasn't. I know because I called the Board of Elections as soon as I got home. Needless to say, I blew a gasket, but it does no good.
So, Mears...I'm afraid I can't "say it ain't so," 'cause it IS so.
Regards,