Why so few people vote

Everyone makes it sounds so easy. MTV, rockthevote.com, punkvoter.com and countless other organizations urge people to register and think it is a simple and easy task. It isn't. Registering to vote is confusing and hard!

Registering to vote can't be accomplished online. You have to download forms, print them out and mail them in. That's assuming you know your correct district and county. Try calling one of the help numbers and you'll be on hold for hours only to eventually talk to a volunteer who really doesn't want to help you.

If you're persistent enough to find the right forms and where to mail them, how do you know if your registration was received and is valid? You don't. Sure, if you plan ahead and do it months in advance, you'll get something in the mail telling you where you should go on election day. Most voters aren't thinking about registering months in advance. Just like taxes, they wait until the last possible day. Most voters have no idea where to go on election day and don't know if they're really registered.

It's time for registration to be completed online. Voting online is a different story and will be another post, but there's no reason why we can't register to vote strictly online. We pay bills and taxes online. Why can't a system be developed that enables us to register and receive an email confirmation?

The bottom line is that registering to vote isn't as easy as everyone makes it out to be. I moved 4 times in the last 4 years. I was registered, so do I have to register again? Do I go to another polling station? Good luck trying to find those answers. The whole system of registration is abominable and needs to be updated!