Could Oregon's Mail-in Vote Work?

PHILLIPS: Now, counting kicks off today in Oregon's primary, the only state to conduct its voting entirely by mail. Voters have had two weeks now to return their ballots, which were sent out on May 2nd. But not everyone thinks a mail-in vote is a good idea. Joining me now, Oregon's secretary of state, Bill Bradbury, in Portland, Oregon. Love that state. Love to visit the coast there in Yaha (Ph). You and I have talked about that before. Good to see you, sir.

BILL BRADBURY, OREGON SECRETARY OF STATE: It's good to see you, and we're very excited here to be starting to count our votes in our vote by mail election.

PHILLIPS: And tell us how this works.

BRADBURY: Well, ballots go out about, like you said, a couple weeks before the election. People vote pretty consistently up to the date of the election, and county elections officials check every signature on every ballot against the voter registration signature of that person.

And then on Election Day today, they start to count the ballots in the morning so that by about 8:00 tonight we will have a pretty good read on -- we'll have over 50 percent of the ballots counted. So our first results that get announced are pretty representative sample of who's going to win and who's going to lose in the state of Oregon.

PHILLIPS: Well, has this improved voter turnout because it's a hassle to stand those lines and have to drive around? Have you seen a difference?

BRADBURY: Yes, we've seen a difference. We've seen a particular difference in lower turnout elections. Presidential elections have always been an incredibly high turnout in Oregon, 86.5 percent in the last presidential election.

So vote by mail probably doesn't increase turnout dramatically in presidential elections. It just makes it a whole lot easier for people to cast their ballot and if they have to work, they don't have to go stand in line for two or three hours. They just drop their ballot in the mail, and it's handled from there.

PHILLIPS: Well, you know, I have to ask you this. Why don't you pay for the postage? A lot of seniors that I know in Oregon saying ask him why they don't pay for the postage.

BRADBURY: Well, you know, we never paid for the gas for you to drive to your polling place. So my attitude is you can pay for the postage because we mail you the ballot. We pay for that postage, so you can pay for sending your vote back in.

PHILLIPS: So how do you --

BRADBURY: And it's not too troublesome.

PHILLIPS: How do avoid voter fraud? How do you verify that these voters are who they say they are?

BRADBURY: Well, basically, the best check you have of making sure that the ballot is from the person that it's supposed to be from is you check their signature. And I just really want to emphasize the counties check every signature. Not just some signatures, they check every signature on every ballot against that voter's original voter registration signature. It is the most comprehensive fraud protection system in elections in America.

PHILLIPS: But I don't think there's any debate that Barack Obama is favored there in Oregon. If you look at the video from Sunday, my gosh, 75,000 people turning out to listen to him speak in Portland, Oregon.

BRADBURY: Right. Right.

PHILLIPS: What is it about Barack Obama that those in Oregon like?

BRADBURY: Well, I think Barack Obama just really speaks about a need for change, and I think most people recognize we need a change, a serious change, from our current administration. And that's certainly true in the state of Oregon, and I think people are really just inspired by it.

And that was the biggest rally that Barack Obama has been to or has had. So that was just really quite inspirational both for Barack Obama and for Oregon.

PHILLIPS: Bill Bradbury, Oregon's secretary of state, we'll follow how it all turns out. It's going to be a big week.

BRADBURY: OK.

PHILLIPS: Thank you so much for your time.

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this system works perfectly. It isn't neccessary to mail the ballots in, there are many sites with drop boxes where we do this. Mine is always dropped into a box in either a city hall or library, wherever it's convenient. It's great to have the time to sit and seriously study the issues before voting. No standing in lines and absolutely no hassle involved. I feel this all makes for a more informed voter. It's a wonderful system!

At the polls one only has 2 to 3 minutes legally to cast their votes.

Don't have to provide photo ID either. Nice!!

Candidates will have to make changes to their campaign for this type of an election. Maybe they can identify those that haven't voted and target them.

If a voter has thrown their ballot away by mistake or wasn't going to vote at first or they misplaced it can they get a replacement?

really well you would think that in order to fully inform viewers on this "issue" she would have brought this up


:eyes::sarcasm:

Sorry, voting isn't free. Never has been. You have to pay SOMETHING. Whether it be gas to get to the polling place. Or a stamp. Or the price of clothes so you don't walk to the polling place naked.....

because they had to travel to the county seat by horse or carriage. Some had it easier because it was scheduled after the harvest. But not all states had their elections at the same time either back then.

Republicans figured this out more than a decade ago. Voting from your home where you don't have to go and stand in line or try and find a parking spot or run into that person you have been avoiding for some time. That is why they have been mailing out absentee ballots to their people for years and years. It drastically increased their "turnout" and we have had to endure Republican rule for over a decade because of this..I believe 86% turnout has to be one of the highest in the nation..Why America as a whole doesn't understand this is way beyond me...