I am no longer ticked off at Jasper County Clerk Charlie Davis

I just wasted about 15 minutes of righteous indignation.

When I picked up my mail, I had a notice from Jasper County Clerk Charlie Davis that I needed to update my voter registration or I could be removed from the voter rolls.

I was ticked off. I vote in every election, national, state, municipal, school- every election.

Then I saw the message that federal law requires that I update my address every two years or I can be removed from the voting rolls.

That did not sound right. So I did some research and found there had been a U. S. Supreme Court decision in 2018 upholding an Ohio law that had a similar requirement, but it did not necessarily apply to any other state.

Now I was really angry. Why was taxpayer money being wasted sending these notices to everyone in Jasper County.

Thankfully before I could call the Jasper County Clerk's office to complain, I read the rest of the message, which noted the U. S. Postal Service had informed the county clerk's office I had changed my address.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

Even though all I did was move my belongings from an upstairs apartment to a downstairs apartment, I had definitely changed my address and I needed to update my voter registration.

Thank you, Charlie Davis, and the hard working folks at the county clerk's office for sending me the notice. I filled out the form, placed it in the postage-paid envelope that was included and dropped it in the mailbox.

I could have kept myself from wasting my righteous indignation if I simply bothered to read something thoroughly before I let my anger and my preconceived notions take hold of me.

It is a lesson we all need to remember.