Drummer for the Drunk

« This percussionist is frequently downtown during the warmer months and he shuttles his equipment around in a baby carriage inbetween performances. You can see his audience in the lower left corner before the drunk wagon turned up to help him along. »

I received my first absentee ballot from the US today and I had a few questions about it so I called the office in Arlington. It was so weird to talk to someone with a townie accent on the other end of the phone since I've been away from the US long enough now to have some of the familiar details become only vague memories. There's nothing like a thick Boston townie accent to bring all of it back into sharp focus.

Since the ballot I received was for some state primary that I have no interest in I wanted to ask if I should be expecting the Presidential election ballot to arrive in the mail at some point and the woman confirmed that, yes, I should receive it sometime in October. The letter enclosed also instructed me to produce some sort of identification:

Pursuant to a new federal law, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, you must provide a copy of your identification with this ballot if you are voting for the first time in a federal election since registering by mail in 2003.

Acceptable identification must include your name and the address at which you are registered to vote, for example: a current and valid photo identification, current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other government document showing your name and address. Please note that this identification will not be returned to you.

I've never heard of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) before but how does sending a current utility bill constitute a form of identification? I asked her about this and she asked where I was living and I told her I now live in Finland. She paused for a moment and put me on hold and returned in a few minutes to tell me that I'm exempt from this since I live outside the US. So, I'm wondering who this clause might apply to. The legalese in the document is really difficult to read through so it's hard to determine what it's all about but given the current administration I'm not convinced its aim is to really help people vote.