Pedaling Democracy

In today's edition, we have a story by news intern John Borgolini about a group of Vermonters who are bicycling across the country and encouraging people to register as voters. On their way from Vermont to Wyoming, they stopped in Speculator. I'm not sure what sort of response they were expecting to get in Hamilton County -- the place with the sparsest population density in our region -- but I wish them luck as they move westward. (Watch out for the Midwest; I hear it's a little wet this time of year.)

But seriously, every adult should be registered to vote and should exercise the right. For more information about the Great American Voter Trek, see http://www.votertrek.com/.

There will be a similar (albeit slightly less athletic) get-out-the-vote effort at SPAC this weekend as the Dave Matthews Band performs there Friday and Saturday. For more information about that, see www.headcount.org.

But you don't have to ride a bike or listen to jam bland music to register as a voter. The Fulton County Board of Elections apparently isn't hip enough to have its own Web site, but you can reach it by phone at 736-5562 or 736-5527. You can visit in person at its office, which is in the rear of the county complex on Route 29, behind the Sheriff's Department.

If you're an Elephant, you'll probably want to ask for Dexter Risedorph or Linda Madison. If you're a Donkey, you'll want to ask for Marilyn Cornell or Linda Coons. If you are an independent or a member of a political party that does not have a smelly mammal as its symbol, any of those folks should be able help you sign up.

You may find additional useful info at www.smartvoter.org or http://www.elections.state.ny.us/.

One piece of advice I can offer from personal experience: If you've moved since the last time you voted, you might want to make sure the Board of Elections still knows your party affiliation (if you have chosen to declare one). Apparently, if you change your address, your party designation of record can unintentionally change from R or D or I to "blank." Perhaps the computers at the Board of Elections thought I needed time to reconsider my political ideology last year, when I moved three blocks.