'We're at our wit's end.' Carmel-by-the-Sea homes got addresses for the first time. Voter confusion ensued – Los Angeles Times

‘We’re at our wit’s end.’ Carmel-by-the-Sea homes got addresses for the first time. Voter confusion ensued  Los Angeles Times

The late-September postcard from the Monterey County elections office — with all-caps text saying "ACTION REQUIRED" — rattled the denizens of quaint Carmel-by-the-Sea. The notice said all residents needed to update their voter registration. It was sent days before ballots were mailed for the Nov. 3 election. Carmel-by-the-Sea just got numbered street addresses for the first time in its 110-year history. After decades of debate — and months of nitpicking a draft map released earlier this year — every house, business and government building was assigned its final number in September. Indeed, each resident will eventually have to update their street address on their voter registration. But not before the upcoming midterm election, which has already been fraught by nationwide confusion and concern over President Trump's attempt to restrict mail voting that was blocked last month by the Supreme Court.

"We're at our wit's end," Carmel-by-the-Sea Mayor Dale Byrne said of the city's attempts to clear up confusion wrought by the county mailer, which led some people to think their registration had automatically been canceled. "The city continues to send out notifications to all our residents that you don't need to re-register right away, that you can still vote." Monterey County Registrar Gina Martinez said in an email Thursday that the county began mailing ballots Oct. 1, including to Carmel-by-the-Sea,