New Voters: A Sticky Situation

LAist made their way around town earlier this week just as the deadline for voter registration was looming. In fact, LAist visited one particular LA post office at the five o' clock hour -- a mere thirty minutes from the deadline that would make some citizens voters and others, really bad forgetful people who (this year) would not be voters.

LAist was proud to find that the post office in question was inundated with local residents all pushing and shoving to make their way to the front of the line in an attempt to get their voter registration forms postmarked and in before the 5:30 PM deadline. It, all at once, convinced LAist that this year's voter turnout could possibly be the largest ever.

And right about the time that the proudness was washing over our bodies, we realized just how stupid all of these new voters could possibly be.

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For those unaware, this year's current crop of voter registration forms are designed to test citizens' patience, requiring them to sign here and remove this flap and write down your Driver's License number. Yet most troublesome for Angelenos -- that they must lick one of the hidden sticky ends of the form in order to secure the document closed. The form is blatant in its directions: "Do not staple or tape this document closed!"

And so, with twenty minutes until the deadline, wannabe-voters frantically raced around the post office in question, bonding with fellow strangers over the fact that "these damn forms don't stay closed after you lick them!" Some resourceful citizens came up with quick fixes. While some used pen caps to rub back and forth over the already-licked areas, others stood on top of the forms. Others used paper clips to keep the edges closed while others poked holes with pen caps to try and create an invisible-staple type of securing-method. People stood frustrated, not wanting to miss out on this year's November elections, but unsure which end to lick and which end to put pressure on.

But Angelenos stuck together, huddling and conversing about the lack of stickiness where voter registration forms said stickiness should be. Some got frustrated and (seriously) walked out of the post office. But others stood strong, figuring out a solution as a community of voters, and eventually realizing that turning said voter registration form in without two ends secured closed was, probably not going to throw a wrench into California's voting system.

Florida's, maybe. But California? Hell, we already know which candidate is getting all of Cali's electoral votes. Don't we?