John and Marge Jacoby have lived in the same house in Madison for 40 years. But when they checked their voter registration status, they learned that John was taken off the voter rolls because he was dead. And his wife was needed to give their city clerk's office her birthday, something that was not required when the couple registered all those years ago. City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said Marge Jacoby was indeed registered, but she could not access her voter record on-line because the birthdate was not in the state's computer.
As for Marge's supposedly dead husband, Witzel-Behl said a technical procedure caused that. When a voter has not submitted a birth date, the computer system puts in a default date and that makes it easier for someone who's listed as dead to be mistaken for a living person with the same name. But one call to the clerk's office straightened everything out for the Jacobys. John says he's worried that others might have problems on Election Day if they don't make sure of their voting status now.
The Government Accountability Board's Web site will tell you if you're in.
