I moved into New York from New Jersey this past year, so had to re-register to vote. Every four years, I painstakingly determine which asshole will be capable of doing less to obliterate my freedom, and I’d hate to deprive myself of this privilege this coming November.

I was somewhat impressed, while getting my NY state driver’s license, that I could kill two bureaucratic birds with one stone and simultaneously register to vote. After finally obtaining my temporary license at the DMV, I looked at the receipt given to me and see that, no, I had not been registered. I thought that was way too easy. I walked back to the counter and questioned the apparent mistake. Nothing the lady could do. The computer had won.

I was given a form to fill out and mail in, so took it and returned it as asked. Weeks later, I received yet another form, along with this letter.

Yes, since 2003, the Queens County Department of Motor Vehicles has apparently been giving out an outdated form that necessitates the mailing out of yet another form, which collects data that could have been gathered the first time around.

The key sentence, the one that seems to explain the main purpose of the whole form, is: “If you do not provide identification with this form, you will be asked for it the first time you vote.”

Huh? You mean if I mail back the information proving that I am who I am, then I won’t have to provide ID when I vote? Is that because the guy who’s impersonating me also had to mail back ID?

If I have to fill out two forms to prove that I’m me, I sure as hell hope my impersonator has to fill out two.