I just now got off the phone with the Alameda County voter registration office. They confirmed that after seventeen years living and voting at the same address my wife and I had been disenfranchised without notice. I am hoping that ours is simply a quirk in the system. But perhaps not.
Here’s how it works. Someone in the US Post Office declares that our ballot is “undeliverable” at our address. That’s it. No one attempts to contact us. There is no follow-up. And just like that, we are declared “inactive.” Had we showed up at the polls tomorrow and cast a provisional ballot, it would not have counted.
Our voter registration has been reactivated. But now I am concerned that we are not alone. If this has happened to you, call Alameda County voter registration. Also, I am curious how widespread this disenfranchisement has been. Are we an outlier? Or are we a victim of massive voter fraud?