Poll Position

Last week Dapo got a notice in the mail that his license would expire. I remember thinking that was odd, because we moved here in 2006 and got our licenses around Christmas that year. I looked in his wallet, and sure enough, his license was expired. I wonder why? Then I wondered if mine was expired. No, mine doesn't expire until my birthday in 2012. Why doesn't Dapo's expire on his birthday?

I took the notice and his license to him and brought his attention to the matter. It was the weekend, so he planned to go on Monday. I really appreciate how we are treated in Alabama. However, some things need to be changed. Like the fact that if you are not a citizen you have to drive to the Driver's License Division in Decatur, which is 1/2 hr away. That sounds like segregation to me. At the time, he was told he could renew it at any satellite office.

So he shows up on Monday at the place we normally go to get our tags and is told he has to go to a different office, the main one in Huntsville. On Tuesday he goes there and is told he cannot get his license renewed because his green card has expired. Ah ha!! That makes sense why his license expired, because so did his green card. You may recall that we are in the LONG process of applying to have his conditional temporary status removed from his permanent residency. They recently extended his green card for a year, but did not send him a new card.

So, then he was finally able to get his license on Wednesday with proof of the letter that says he's been extended. Of course, his license will expire this time next year, when mine still has three years left on it. I guess that's the price you pay to pursue liberty. I'm not upset about the fact that they don't want you to have a license if you aren't supposed to be in the country. I get that. I don't want you here, either, if you aren't legally allowed to be. But, if you ARE legally allowed, and it takes you several years to get through the red tape, well, I find fault with that. Too bad paying his income taxes and property taxes aren't this hard!

All of this brings me to the title of the post. Last week Dapo received an envelope from the Alabama Democratic Party Headquarters. When he opened it, a letter congratulating him on his decision to vote was inside, accompanied by a voter's registration form and postage paid business reply mail envelope.

The letter, which I was saving as "evidence" of voter fraud, was thrown away by Dapo. It included such phrases as democratic process and democracy. And it came from the Democratic party! Dapo is a man of integrity and wouldn't dare pretend to be a citizen in order to file the form and vote, but I couldn't help but wonder about the scores of other people who would. How many convicted felons in jail cells thought they could now vote?

What is my point? I think that voting is a right given to people only as citizens of our country, and only if they are law-abiding. A driver's license is something given to anyone who can show they belong in the country, either on business or travel, or otherwise. As an aside, we all know millions of people who don't belong here have found a loophole called fake ID! Where are the watchdogs? Living high on the hog? Funding the Democratic HQ?

If you aren't a citizen, shouldn't it at least be as difficult to register to vote as it is to get your driver's license??