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Dateline Jerusalem — I voted for President via overseas absentee ballot.
Although I have been sick (sore throat and bad cough), I went out and walked to the Post Office in the thunderstorm we had here in Israel in order to mail my ballot.
I do not have a car here. It cost me 69 shekels or approximately $20 in U.S. currency to send my ballot to America so that it would arrive in time to be counted. I would have never forgiven myself for not exercising my constitutional right to vote in one of the most important elections in U.S. history.
California requires ballots to be in the possession of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Los Angeles County by 8 p.m. on Nov. 4.
What About Our Troops?
Other states only require that the ballot be postmarked by Nov. 4. I often wonder why California is different. How many military and their families, and others like me living abroad, might not be able to have their vote counted?
At first there was a problem because my last voter registration address was not my last actual address.
After several phone calls and emails, the problem was resolved.
It is a good thing that I have a phone with a California number that rings here in Israel. I can just imagine what my bill would have been if I were actually making calls from an Israeli phone. I would have run out of money just being put on hold for as long as I had to wait.
Finally, once my identity was verified, Los Angeles County sent me my overseas absentee ballot.
Ah, Yes, My Roaming Furniture
Because it took forever to arrive, I was getting nervous that I would not be able to vote. They must have sent the ballot via a slow boat to China. (My furniture, you may remember, was sent from California to China and then switched ships to go to from China to Israel as its final destination.)
The notice that was sent to me that I am registered to vote and that my ballot was on its way did not arrive until after I sent my ballot back to the States!
I was given a choice of sending my ballot express via FedEx, which, at the "discount" rate, would have cost me almost $24. But their deadline to the U.S. was the day before I received my ballot.
Another option was to fax my ballot to the Registrar Recorder's office, but that made me nervous for two reasons:
Was the Difficulty a Sign?
1) If my ballot arrived via fax, someone would then "duplicate" it onto a ballot card. Considering there has been so much voter fraud so far, I became paranoid that my ballot would be added to the list.
2) Via fax, my ballot would not be confidential (not that it really matters when I have let the entire world know how I voted), but I don't want to be put on any more "drop dead" lists.
But, because I was sick and was afraid I would get pneumonia again by going out in the storm, I actually tried to fax my ballot. I tried faxing it to five different fax numbers at several different times of day and night, and all the lines were always busy.
A sign from G-d that faxing was not the way to go?
Or, just maybe, a result of ballots being sent out late and there not being enough time to send them back to California.
The Post Office in Israel assured me that sending my ballot express mail would get it to Los Angeles on Monday, just in time for the election on Tuesday. What a relief that it is over. Now I must prepare for the up and coming municipal and national elections in Israel.
How wonderful it is to live in Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, and to be a U.S. citizen as well.
L'hitraot. Shachar
Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy who moved to Israel last year.
