Why not vote by mail?

We have it in Oregon, and it is great. You get your ballot 2-3 weeks before the election, so you can sit down in the comfort of your own space and take your time to figure out your vote.

It increases turnout, because those who have to work on Election Day can mail it in ahead of time, and it is much more convenient for the elderly, handicapped, and the just plain too busy voters.

And, THERE IS A PAPER TRAIL. You fill out your ballot in pencil. If there is a questionable election (or the election is within 0.5%) elections officials can actually recount the paper ballots.

Maybe all you BBV folks can tell me what is wrong with this that I'm not getting, but it seems to work flawlessly here.

Easy as pie.

...and every state has them. They use them for people who are sick, will be in hospital, have jobs like nursing where 12 hour shifts are worked on election day with no chance of getting out to vote, and inform seniors at home.

I sincerely hope states using BBV are printing more this time, because they're gonna need 'em.

If you don't want to vote for Bush or any Rethuglican candidate, I'd suggest contacting your election board and making up an excuse to get your absentee ballot ASAP.

check your local laws. Before we (Oregon) went to vote by mail, any voter in Oregon could get an absentee ballot, no questions asked. In fact, to get out their base, the Repugs would mail absentee ballots to every registered Repug in the state.

It is something we should be very much for. It is a way of reducing voter apathy and God knows we need to get people to vote or else we get stuck with someone like Bush*. I am 100% for Vote By Mail. Great Idea. Oregon had an eighty percent voter turnout last election. How does that compare to your state?

IIRC

So yes, vote by mail is excellent for turnout and ability to recount.

We had it in Colorado (or maybe it was just Denver) a few years ago for a midterm election or something. Voter turnout improved significantly, which helped Democrats. Now Republicans are deadset against it, claiming it's too easy to commit voter fraud:eyes:.

They have no problem with absentee ballots which have been used for years, but a general 'vote by mail' deal is fraud prone.

How so?

that Democrats engage in massive, widespread voter fraud, ala the Daley era in Chicago.

I honestly don't know how they can think vote by mail is more fraud prone than absentee voting. AFAIK, both are done about the same, where a signature is checked against the signature on file. But for some reason they think Democrats will steal massive quantities of ballots out of the mail, fill them in fraudulently, and mail them in.

Personally, I don't know anyone who would be willing to risk two felony charges (mail tampering and voter fraud) in order to vote twice. It's enough of a chore to vote once.

it's not even election day for two more weeks.

Face it, Oregonians are superior. :*

Just information, not a judgement:

1. Vote selling, coercing, etc.
You can't rule those out. I imagine some employers or churches would insist you bring the ballot in, fill it out, and drop it in the mail in their presence, same problem for women whose husbands dictate everything they do.

That is not likely to be on the scale of massive fraud that could be conducted by computer. But they are real issues for some.

2. Vote by mail ballots are still counted by computer.
A paper trail, yes, but still need the auditing in place.

3. I would really require citizen participation at all levels.
The envelopes would not be opened without observers. The blank envelopes would not be opened and ballots collected without observers. Those ballots would be counted- immediately, with observers.

4. Absolute cooperation from the postat service. Better yet, receive the ballot by mail but drop them off into ballot boxes.

5. The mail is pretty good, but in a close race, if ballots arrive late and are not counted- even though they were mailed on time, races can be thrown due to that.

6. When is your primary date? If the primaries are too close and there are problems in counting or recounting those races, it can really mess up your lead time for getting ballots in the mail. This is a real issue that has caused real problems before. And this is one area that parties won't cooperate on, because they like those primary dates to be close to the election.

Overall, much better because of the paper trail. But you have to secure they system and you still have to audit the counting of those ballots.

At least I can speak to how it is done here.

1. Vote selling, coercing, etc.

Doesn't that happen in conventional elections anyway?

2. Vote by mail ballots are still counted by computer.

Yes. Who does the coumting is always a concern, but the mail in ballots could be counted. I don't see how it would be any different without computers in this case.

3. I would really require citizen participation at all levels.

True of any election.

4. Absolute cooperation from the postat service. Better yet, receive the ballot by mail but drop them off into ballot boxes.

No problem. Here, in cities and towns of any size, there is a secure place to drop off your ballot at your convenience anytime up to 8pm Election Day. In the decade since we started, there's never been a postal service problem and voter participation is way up.

5. The mail is pretty good, but in a close race, if ballots arrive late and are not counted- even though they were mailed on time, races can be thrown due to that.

See #4 - You can drop off your ballot on the day of the election if you procrastinate. No race here has been thrown. Media in the state does a good job of reminding citizens that they should mail their ballots by X date or plan on dropping them off.


6. When is your primary date? If the primaries are too close and there are problems in counting or recounting those races, it can really mess up your lead time for getting ballots in the mail. This is a real issue that has caused real problems before. And this is one area that parties won't cooperate on, because they like those primary dates to be close to the election.

Oregon's primary date has been in May as long as I can remember. Lead time is no problem. :)

because the media will spin it.

A grassroots campaign would be excellent--BBV people are already advocating it, if I'm not mistaken.

Oregon rocks!

He's all for vote-by-mail. Here's why:

1. Convenience = higher turnout (80% last election)
2. Tallying process can be monitored by many people (including us ordinary citizens)
3. Auditable paper trail allows for recounts
4. Reduces last-minute "dirty tricks." If all states did this, we wouldn't see so much trash surface right before an election, since many people will have already voted.

He also said their recount process is so accurate the usually get exactly the same number each time. Only rarely are they off by one vote. Each ballot envelope is stamped with a precinct number. They first count the total ballots in each precinct, so that they can ensure that valid votes plus the undervotes equal that total.

Then I get to pick up my reserved copy of my favorite book. We go almost every weekend anyway. (yeah we pay for our great library system with our prop taxes, and it's worth every penny)

Reduces last-minute "dirty tricks" Yep, and if I want to study a ballot measure all day and night, and discuss it with my S/O I have the time to do so and not feel rushed.