Initially taken aback by the application, thinking it was a joke, Jewitt of Strongsville gamely noted that since Dipped is 6 years old "in cat years, I guess she'd be of voting age."

He said Dipped, named for markings that make the black cat look like it was dipped feet-first in white paint, is a good mouser. So she would likely be good at smelling out a rat in political wannabes, Jewitt said.

And though he's not sure if Dipped leaned to "Democat" or "Republicat" candidates, Jewitt and his wife, Susan, 55, figured the feline's fiercely independent streak would hold true at the polls.
Jeff Jewitt can only guess that the cat's monicker must have shown up on a computerized list from some bygone brush he had with an Internet site where he entered Dipped's name.

Probably true, according to David Elliott, USAction communications director, who said the group used a list of names from a vendor for about a million voter-registration mailings sent across the country this year. "Unfortunately, vendor lists aren't perfect," he added.

Dipped's application came with a prepaid-postage envelope to be mailed to the Ohio secretary of state's office in Columbus.

Jeff Ortega, department spokesman, said USAction is one of several organizations mailing out voter-registration packets to Ohio voters. He said the group's application is perfectly valid -- for human voters.
Ortega also checked and found no Dipped Jewitt on the official state roster of voters.

Jeff Jewitt has no plans to complete and submit the form on behalf of Dipped. His wife said the cat would probably treat the application as it does any other paper product -- chew it up, spit it out.
Everyone else has until Oct. 6 to register. And as it's often said, every vote counts.

Except Dipped's.