Fourth time's the charm for new voter

My daughter was going to turn 18 in February of this year and was excited about being eligible to vote. Her first attempt to register was at a local library when she was still 17. She thought that she could register as long as she would be 18 when she voted in November. She wasn't able to register that day. Our mistake.

Her second attempt was when she went to our municipal building to try again. The person normally in charge of registration was at a meeting, so her co-worker went to the meeting to ask her what needed to be done to register. My daughter had brought her driver's license, social security card, and an envelope with her name and address on it. I asked whether she needed to show any of this to confirm who she was and was told no.

Over a month passed with no registration card being delivered to our home. I contacted the Cook County voter registration office in Chicago and was told they had never received anything for my daughter.

The man I spoke with told me we could download a form and send it in. My daughter and her boyfriend both did this. Several weeks passed, and neither received their voting card. Out of frustration, I sent an angry e-mail to the Cook County voting office threatening to contact the media with our story if this wasn't resolved soon.

Within a day, a woman from that office contacted me via e-mail and, shortly thereafter, my daughter FINALLY received the official voter registration card. That was in the beginning of summer, and her boyfriend never did receive his. He won't be voting.

Kelly Kamowski

Hoffman Estates