|
|
Sigel and Laura Hall
(and Tippy, their dog) |
By Connie Lenzen, CGSM
Voting is both a privilege and an obligation of citizenship in a free society. It is expected that people will register and then vote in elections. In order to vote, a person must register with the Elections Department in the county where they live. They must be a resident of the state, a citizen of the United States, and of legal age.
On 2 October 1942, Laura Hall and her husband, Calvin Sigel Hall (known as Sigel), registered to vote in Multnomah County, Oregon. Laura was 73-years-old, and was re-registering after moving from one election precinct to another.
|
|
Sigel and Laura Hall
(and Tippy, their dog) |
Laura provided the required information and signed the registration card with a firm hand. On 4 December 1949, Laura died, and her death was reported to the Elections Office. A clerk stamped the card "Deceased," and her card was cancelled.
Laura's cancelled card, along with thousands of other cards that were cancelled between 1918 and 1958 was microfilmed by Multnomah County.
The Multnomah County Election Directors didn't stop with microfilming this set of records. They went on to have all of the cards between 1908 and 1987 filmed. I have the following films in my personal library.
[Multnomah County, Oregon] Dept. of Records and Elections. Foreign [Born] Registration Cards [from 1916] to Sept. 1967. 29 reels.
[Multnomah County, Oregon] Division of Registration. [Multnomah County, Oregon Voter] Registration Cards, 1918-1958. 158 reels.
[Multnomah County, Oregon] Division of Registration. [Multnomah County, Oregon Voter] Registration Cards, 1959/1963. 69 reels.
[Multnomah County, Oregon] Division of Registration. [Multnomah County, Oregon Voter] Registration Cards, 1982/1983. 59 reels.
© 2007-2008
Connie Lenzen
