An Open Letter to the New York City Board of Elections

Mr. Gregory C. Soumas
Board of Elections in the City of New York
Executive Office
32 Broadway
New York, NY 10004-1609

November 17, 2008

Dear Mr. Soumas:

I would like to publicly apologize for being such a dim-witted dilettante on Election Day. I was under the naïve assumption that I could vote where I voted in the last two elections. Your thoughtful letter pointed out that if I had voted in the recent primary election in September I would have discovered that I was no longer registered in the polling place I have voted in since 2004. Considering your position at the Board of Elections and your deep respect for the democratic process I must assume that my local 14th St. poll worker, Betty J. Williamson's assertion that my name was on the active voter rolls for the primary in September of this year was erroneous and that she must be as confused and wrongheaded as I am. If Ms. Williamson saw my name in the book in September that would mean that you are lying. Certainly you wouldn't lie about a thing like that. That is unbecoming of a man of your bureaucratic stature. And why would anyone in the Board of Elections be eliminating legitimate voters from the rolls in late September and October of 2008? That's just crazy and un-democratic.

I should also apologize for the misguided actions of Justice Paul G. Feinman in issuing a court order on Election Day allowing me to vote on 14th St. He apparently thought that a printed out record from your own Board of Elections computer verifying my polling place as 14th St was justification for issuing the court order. If he had only thought to contact you, you could have helped him understand the logic and wisdom of eliminating my name from the book on 14th St. where I have always voted and leaving my name registered at a place I have never voted.

I must also thank you for sending your letter not to me but to all the major newspapers in the New York area and across the internet. I understand it was your way of clearing up this matter and for that I am grateful. I am particularly appreciative of your sending a copy of my voter registration card with my home address and driver's license number to all the newspapers and, by extension, to millions across the internet. What celebrity dilettante wouldn't want his private information made public? What kind of snob gets angry that his family's safety might be compromised? It comes with the territory, right? I was thinking of returning that favor by publishing your home address in this letter but then I thought that maybe one of the thousands of New Yorkers that were taken off the voter rolls in the last two months might not understand what a patriotic upstanding man you are and might show up at your doorstep with the misguided assumption that you are a petty vindictive corrupt scumbag.

Tim Robbins
New Yorker since 1961
Voter since 1976

P.S. If anyone reading this letter had a similar experience on Election Day it can and should be reported at 866ourvote.org.

cc:
Commissioners of Elections
Marcus Cederqvist, Executive Director
George Gonzalez, Deputy Executive Director
Pamela Perkins, Administrative Manager
Beth Fossella, Coordinator, Voter Registration
Steven H. Richman, General Counsel
Troy Johnson, Chief Clerk
Timothy Gay, Deputy Chief Clerk

Comments

[Grundibular]

Classy.

[Azmom]

Good for you, Tim.

I had a similar problem here in Arizona. Now why would I be deemed unable to vote when I haven't even moved in nine years? Why did I have to re register with the exact same information that they have always had? Could it be because I live in John McCain's homestate and am registered as Independant? I wonder as my husband and son were also taken of the rolls, and they happen to be registered Democrats and both still living at our same address..

[KickerBoard]

Tim is cool and courageous. I remember him at an anti-war rally with London Mayor Ken Livingstone, long before it became safe to oppose the illegal Iraq invasion. I had to laugh, though, to see a donation to "Michele Bachmann for Congress" among Tim's past campaign contributions. Huh?

[Brenbooks]

GO TIM GO!!!! I just hope your letter is printed in every NY paper!

[Beninn]

Tim Robbins's open letter doesn't answer a question that was raised during this incident and seems to be the key to unraveling what happened when he showed up to vote at his usual polling place and his name wasn't on the rolls:

Did Tim Robbins fill out a new voter registration form with a new address (his office)?

If he didn't (and the story about this that I read said the new voter registration card had his full name, slightly different from the original voter registration card, and it was unsigned) then it would seem someone else had and was trying to prevent Robbins from being able to vote. That's a crime.

If that's the case, Robbins should make that charge the focus of his letter. And save the sarcasm for private conversations with friends and associates. It distracts from getting to the truth of the story and repairing the system.

[Politisizer]

The fact that this card they refer to is unsigned should tell you enough about it.

Either way the Soumas guy (I pronounce 'some ass') had no right to send a letter with Tim's full address + details of his drivers licence to the press.

[SonyaInTx]

If they can do this to Tim.... :(

[CVN65]

I was ready to be totally shocked when I started to read this letter. I thought that he was going to apologize for flying off of the handle before all the facts were in; I should have known better. I do find it funny that someone as involved as Tim did not participate in the primary election. I think that it should be checked to ensure that there was no foul play. I think that publishing Robbins' personal info was unprofessional and retributive. That should not have been done. Let's find out the facts before this man is fired, put in jail and sued. Anyone remember Mike Nifong? Facts are funny things, when they finally come out. Tim needs to calm down and take a breath; the rest of you may want to do that as well.

[OrganOfThought]

I disagree. Voting rights are crucial and fundamental to our democratic civilization.

Any bureaucratic act or official that arbitrarily sets rules that make it difficult to vote, is un-American. It isn't up to them to make people perform certain acts before they can vote. You either have the right to vote, or you don't. Are you a citizen clear of criminal convictions that prevent you from voting? Yes or No, that is the only question. If the answer is yes, then it is the job of government to assist you and make it easier, not more difficult.

Government is supposed to be a service, for us. It isn't supposed to our supervisor.

[Mum]

Actually, it isn't really surprising that Mr. Robbins did not participate in the primary election. For those of us who are independents, voting in many states would not have allowed us to participate in a primary unless we declared ourselves Republicans or Democrats before the primary. I have campaigned for many presidential candidates, but this year is the first time I participated in a primary, because I was absolutely committed to getting Senator Obama elected, even if it meant that I had to vote a straight Democratic ticket.

Mr. Robbins' anger is well-placed, and he doesn't come across as being hysterical and rash. I would hardly characterize his anger as "flying off the handle." Voting is a sacred duty and a right. More of us should be outraged at disenfranchisement, in whatever form it takes.

[LeBeau59741]

Wow- my keyboard and monitor are absolutely soaked... all the dripping sarcasm came through, I guess.

[Cogitoe]

Well, I think we can all agree Mr. Robbins' personal information should not have been publicized. Putting that huge mistake aside, does anyone out there really believe there was any kind of "shenanigans" involved with the polling place screw up. Are we so paranoid as to believe the electoral board of one of the most liberal Democratic cities in America purposely tried to disenfranchise a known political activist for absolutely no obvious purpose. If I were paranoid, I might think the exact opposite. I hope this was not a set up!

[HeIsTheOne]

You must have missed Robbins on Bill Maher's show shortly before the election. Either Robbins is psychic, or just a practical predictor.

[one4obama]

"does anyone out there really believe there was any kind of "shenanigans" involved with the polling place screw up. Are we so paranoid as to believe the electoral board of one of the most liberal Democratic cities in America purposely tried to disenfranchise a known political activist for absolutely no obvious purpose."

You betcha we are to believe it. Seems you forgot about the Democratic primaries when not a single vote out of Harlem was cast for Obama. And you think that there was no funny stuff there?

[Mum]

Good point. That was EXTREMELY fishy, wasn't it?

[Cogitoe]

I did not say the Democratic party was not capable of "shenanigans" in their own primary, although why a Harlem Clinton supporter would think they could get away with not reporting Obama votes is too much to comprehend. But, Mr. Soumas is a Democrat. What did he or anyone on the electoral board have to gain from this?

[SonyaInTx]

Tim,

Two words: Sue him!

[Lotus19]

ROFLMAO

[tierone]

Excellent letter. Unbelievable that Soumas felt he was in any way, shape, or form ethical in what he did.

[TekBoss]

Bwahahahah­ahahahahah­ahahahahah­ah

This is Freakin' AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Bwahahahah­ahahahahah­ahhahahaha­h

[sdskelton03]

Tim

I think you should speak out on behalf of Joe the Plumber.

Like you, he publicly injected himself into political process (nothing wrong with that), and like you he had personal information released to the media. He also had his records thumbed through by the government.

All this hassle for daring to speak your mind. It shouldn't be that way. Anyone of us should be able to speak our minds without fear of the government rifling through our records and releasing private information.

[ABCD]

What are you talking about? Did you actually read the letter?

[jlarue]

Speaking your mind honestly and speaking your mind dishonestly, sayng dishonest things I mean, are different things. Joe the Plumber came up with a bunch of bull crap and got called on it.......i­f you dont want to get called on the bs then dont throw it out there.

[Mum]

Unfortunately for Joe the Plumber, lawsuits are public information, as are records with regard to licenses issued to professionals in the building trades (in order to protect the consumer). With regard to the other information, Joe the Plumber made statements that screamed out to be challenged.

Mr. Robbins was exercising his right and duty as a citizen to vote. While the addresses of voters are a matter of public record and are used by campaigns for canvassing purposes, they are generally not made widely public. (When campaigns use the addresses for canvassing purposes, the records are destroyed on a regular basis throughout the canvassing process through to the end of the campaign.) It was always my understanding that the information on a drivers license was not on public record, especially as it may contain the individual's Social Security number.

My own daughter's experience as a voter in New York City, where her registration was purged twice for outrageous (and totally untrue) allegations, does not reflect well upon the Board of Elections in that city. When she received a second notice of purging, she then learned that they had no record of her having voted at all. Needless to say, that experience prompted her to check her registration status several times before the November 4 election.

[kappa08]

ouch