I got panicked, and so I decided to check, and yes, I’m registered to vote at my current address as a democrat, and a ballot will be sent out to my house the day before my birthday. (Which means I’ll probably be able to vote in the primary for my birthday, which is pretty sweet.)
If you are similarly concerned, and want to make sure you are registered at your current address, here’s the link. I can’t imagine an election where this might matter more.
https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/pages/myvote.aspx
I will say: this is not my preferred political party. Until fairly recently, I have been registered “Cathead” Party, which comes back on my card something along the lines of, “Anonymous – Third Party,” or something like that. The Cathead Party philosophy is pretty straightforward: vote your heart, or “Doug D. Douglas” if you can’t do that. Doug D. Douglas has been the Cathead Party candidate for every position in every election since the early ’90’s, but sometimes voting third party doesn’t make sense, so in that case… vote your heart.
However, Marla and I had a conversation a while back, and we both switched to the democrat party, for the purposes of voting. I don’t really identify as democrat, and I’m not sure I ever did or will. But It’s the closest thing to matching my philosophy, and in large elections, voting for the democrat is usually the better vote to cast.
As we were coming into the 2012 election, we decided that having a voice in the primaries made sense, something the Cathead Party doesn’t do. (They just always run good old Doug, every time, no matter what.) So, as Cathead doesn’t really need my vote in the primaries, Marla and I registered democrat, so we could have an influence there.
It’s hard to say comfortably out loud, “I’m a Democrat,” with any amount of pride. It fits like a bad suit, tailored for someone else. But in this upcoming election, it seems important to cast two very symbolic votes: in both cases, I will be voting for the democrat I like the most.
I just wish it was the same one both times.
https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/pages/myvote.aspx
ACRONYM Inc. 