Calif. Obamacare Exchange Mails Couple Voter-Registration Form with ‘Democratic Party’ Checked Already

A couple from La Mesa, Calif., received a voter-registration form from Covered California, the state’s Obamacare campaign, with an “x” already put next to the Democratic-party box.

The couple called their local 10News station to say they had received the voter-registration form — the couple have always been registered Republicans and are confused as to why such a form would be sent to their home.

“I’m an old guy and I never would have noticed it, except I have an accountant that notices every dot and dash on a piece of paper as a wife,” said the man who received the registration form (he and his wife wished to remain anonymous).

After being threatened with a lawsuit by a group of organizations including the ACLU and the League of Women Voters, Covered California began mailing voter-registration forms to the nearly 4 million enrollees who’d used the system. The organizations argued that the health-insurance exchange is covered under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, known as the motor-voter bill, which requires states to offer voter registration when people apply for a driver’s license or sign up for public assistance.

A spokesman for Covered California said that the mailers were sent out unmarked and that the couple should contact the California secretary of state about election-law violations. The couple was unable to reach anyone when they contacted the secretary of state’s office.