Very, very bummed

Yesterday I went to the early voter polling center in Bloomingdale Township and was turned away, told I am unable to vote in this election. Yes, unable to make my voice heard along with millions of others.

Why, you ask? Well, apparently if you move you need to update your voter registration info, including your address. This probably seems obvious to most people, but I never even thought about it, even though I updated all my other stuff when we moved last summer (driver's license, mailing address for various things, etc.). With the wedding planning consuming my life over the last year, I had too much on my mind, and this sort of thing didn't even register, so to speak. I guess you CAN change your registration info 28 days before an election, but obviously I'm too late.

And I ALWAYS vote, always have, in every presidential election (and others) since I registered right before I turned 18. And with this being such a monumental election, I was especially excited to cast my vote. When the lady at the polling center told me the bad news, I seriously almost cried right in front of her. I feel so bad right now that I can't even put it into words. I'm going to call the DuPage County elections committee tomorrow during business hours, just to make sure I'm not missing some opportunity to fix my registration and vote (you never know). But I'm not holding my breath.

Let my story of stupidity be a reminder to any of you who plan to move or have just moved. I sure hope you've thought of this and are cleared for voting if you moved over 30 days ago. It sounds like you can squeak by if it's been less than 30 days, but I certainly don't make that cut off, since I moved last summer. And if you neglected to change your voter registration like I did, I definitely can sympathize with you. For everyone else, get out there and make yourself heard.

(Photo courtesy CNN)