Friday, October 31, 2008

WTF? 6 Days in Customs?!!!

Update: November 2, 2008 @ 8:07pm

As I thought, it did get delivered. It just got delivered 5 days behind schedule after languishing in customs. My vote is in...yeah!

But I still don't like that it took so long to get through something that should take maybe a day.
____________

Uh oh.

I mailed my absentee ballot back to the States on October 23rd via EMS. The form said it would be delivered by the 27th, and I mailed it EMS so I could track its arrival. What's cool is I get text messages that update me on the status when something changes. I got a text days ago saying it was in the system and on its way. I expected to get something at the start of the week but I gotten nothin', nada, zlich.

I just checked it online and nearly fell over. Check it out.

  • Foreign Acceptance, October 23, 2008, 3:43 pm, KOREA
  • Foreign International Dispatch, October 24, 2008, 1:27 am, SEOUL INTERNATIONAL POST OFFICE, KOREA
  • Inbound International Arrival, October 24, 2008, 10:37 am, ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS)
  • Inbound Into Customs
  • Inbound Out of Customs, October 30, 2008, 2:26 pm
I'm wondering how many other ballots are languishing in customs for six days?!!! Is customs just swarmed with ballots from abroad? And, couldn't they have predicted this?

I mailed it early enough that it still will get there on time, but wow...that's scary.

Anyone else tracking their ballots? This worries me.

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6 comments:

  1. wow! that stinks. How about this winner: I mailed my ballot request together with the federal write-in ballot on Sept 22. My niece got the postcard I mailed on the same day on Sept. 30th.

    I received my ballot today. NOVEMBER 3rd. WHAT?! I don't even know if I should send it in. I'm pretty sure we will already know that Obama has won (fingers crossed) before this puppy ever clears customs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You should let your party know (I'm assuming you're a Democrat, so let Democrats Abroad for your region know.) They're compiling reports about stuff like this happening.

    I can't believe you got your ballot today! You could have done a write in ballot though. Hopefully, there will be more than enough voters whose votes do get counted so that Obama wins. By this time tomorrow, it's just after 11am here, we'll all know.

    It's really exciting to be so close.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I did do the write-in ballot when I requested this ballot. I have some friends in a nearby city who still haven't gotten theirs. I'll let my people (the democrats) know. thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm glad you did a write in. It's ridiculous your ballot got to you that darn late.

    Forget the Republican's complaints about Acorn. I'm more concerned about legitimate voters getting ballots this late or having to stand in line for hours to cast their vote.

    What's great to see is the coverage of people getting up to vote. It's early morning on the east coast back home and they're setting up and people are in line.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think the only LA and Chicago customs take around 12 to 24 hours...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, but that's not really the point. I was talking about a ballot that I mailed back to the States from abroad way in advance and tracked it to make sure it arrived on time.

    Six days for paper clearly labeled as a ballot? That's bullshit. That's my point. But yes, prior to San Francisco my absentee vote was in L.A., so if customs is quicker there then in prior elections my L.A. ballot got to the registrar quicker.

    ReplyDelete

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