Curious and curiouser

So, it looks like we can't vote. We were registered up north, but missed the cutoff to reregister here. So, I called today about absentee ballots, for which the cutoff was yesterday. But it turns out that if we were at our new address since before mid-October, we had to reregister anyway because our old registration wasn't valid. So witness, we have slipped through the cracks, because ... something. And while this is mostly our fault by way of 1) procrastination and 2) ignorance, I am finding myself irked that despite being registered up north, even if I hopped in a car and drove up there four hours to cast my vote, so that I could have some voice in this remarkably corrupt political system, it would be illegal. I really think the Australian system has something going for it.