If we (as a nation) really cared about voting

[SoCalDem]

SoCalDem Donating Member Mon Apr-11-05 01:27 PM

It involves a minor switch, which would not matter much anyway, since most states run elections every year anyway for this and that..

The main elements are :

Nationally held office elections in even years.

Proof of district (for house) would be as easy as providing a bill or letter addressed to the voter at the listed address

Senate would require only that you prove you live in the state

No propositions, local candidates.. just the congress/senate, and every 4 years... president

The ballot could be 5 x 7 card stock with just those 3 offices on it.

names alphabetically with a check-box immediately in front of the name..indelible sharpie pen..

mark your X..

Counting would be a breeze..it would be cheap to print, and easy to store in case of a recount.

I would prefer to hire extra humans on election day, than to spend billions on unverifiable vapor machines owned by republicans..

I know that "states run their own elections", but it's high-time that we admit that states should not be allowed to manipulate "their" elections to mess with what ends up being of NATIONAL importance.

If they want to play games with their city council/governor/state-legislators' races,...let them.., but when their manipulation & chicanery turns a dem majority senate into a minority, or we end up with another 4 long years of "W" , it matters to me in California, how Ohio votes, how they count their votes and how they disenfranchise voters.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Let me tell you about voter registration in the UK - it's compulsory

It's actually illegal not to register (jury service is taken from the same list), though I think any prosecution for not doing it (you have to renew each year, even if you don't move) it pretty rare.

They send, once a year, a form to each household. Someone in the household lists all adults (or those who will become an adult in the next 2 years), their nationalities (Commonwealth and Irish citizens get to vote in all elections, EU ones in local and EU elections), signs it, and sends it in (or you can do that over the internet). No proof of identity, or existence, needed. When an election comes up, they send you a voting card. You take that to the polling station, they check off the number on it, and you can vote - no proof of identity needed. If you forget the card, they'll still let you vote just by saying who you are and where you live, but (I think) note that you didn't have the card, so if you lied, and the real card-holder turns up, they'll know your ballot paper was bogus.

If you want a postal vote, you can have it, without proof of identity or address (they used to ask for someone to witness your signature, but don't now. A friend of mine got his 5 year old son to witness his once).

There is a bit of voter fraud in this system, usually by inventing extra people at an address and getting postal votes for them. But not all that much, it seems.