Blog: Perspective needed in advance ballot mistake

Perspective crucial in advance ballot mistake

To many of us, it might seem like an honest mistake of little significance.

Eugene and Mamie Anderson didn’t receive their advance ballots in the mail for Tuesday’s Wichita City Council District 1 primary. The ballots were labeled “moved left no address” by the Post Office and sent back to the Sedgwick County election commissioner’s office, even though the Andersons have lived in the same home 49 years and were receiving other mail.

The Andersons went to an advance voting site and were told they could only vote provisionally because the advance ballots had been mailed.

They followed the procedure to cast provisional ballots, and many would like to think it’s not a big deal. Tabitha Lehman, the county election commissioner, told The Eagle the provisional ballots will be counted without a problem because the office has the returned advance ballots.

But this is a big deal. Eugene Anderson is 73, Mamie Anderson is 70. Both are black and have been voting too long not to have an opinion on the right to vote.

Eugene Anderson, a former state senator, said he had to take a literacy test in 1961 when he registered to vote in Georgia. Mamie Anderson voted for the first time in 1964, a year before the federal Voting Rights Act.

The couple’s letter to Secretary of State Kris Kobach asked if they’ll experience “the same degrading, humiliating, demeaning, and unnecessary drama” when requesting an advance ballot for the Nov. 7 general election.

Not a big deal? Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.

Kirk Seminoff

This story was originally published August 1, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Blog: Perspective needed in advance ballot mistake."