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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRon Wyden calls for National Vote by Mail
Fashioned after the Oregon vote by mail.
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-calls-for-national-vote-by-mail-to-fight-back-against-new-barriers-to-voting
Washington, D.C. As a new tide of voter disenfranchisement rises across the country, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today announced a new campaign to expand an Oregon-style vote-by-mail program nationwide and tear down barriers to voting.
My home state of Oregon has led the nation in making voting more accessible. No one has to take time off work just to exercise his or her constitutional rights, Wyden said. My proposition is the rest of our country should follow Oregons lead and offer all voters a chance to vote by mail.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Congress can pass one simple law describing how the races for president and congress members shall be voted on.
States can do as they please with their elections, within certain guidelines. Feds can't proscribe the manner or time for states.
So, it would be quite simple to have all federal elections be voted on via paper ballots and those ballots hand counted.
The revolution can make it so for 2018 congressional elections.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)the presidential elections would anyone turn up for down ticket elections? I think this is an issue that will have to come from the ground up. States will have to do this one at a time and then the feds can change it nationally.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)How elections are conducted are up to the states.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)That votes for federal offices shall be made on paper ballots that are mailed in and counted by Military personnel.
And counted three times to ensure total accuracy.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)msongs
(67,441 posts)neverforget
(9,436 posts)The ballot goes to the county election division where it's counted.
Orrex
(63,224 posts)How can you know that your vote was received, counted, or accurately recorded?
And before you ask me how I know that my vote cast at the polling place is accurately recorded, let me say that I've been asking that same question for years.
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)HuckleB
(35,773 posts)I still can't think of a foolproof way to confirm that one's vote is counted as cast, but this tracking feature is nice.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)I liked the ceremony of going to vote, but vote by mail seems to be working well, so far. I still walk my ballot to the drop off at the library with my kid, so as to reinforce the responsibility part of it with him, and get some mild ceremony out of it.
sense
(1,219 posts)by rigged machine with no paper trail. We know that doesn't work.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Who knows? You can track your ballot, make sure it was received. And there's a paper trail to boot.
Can you do that with a Diebold machine?
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)big fun, but to be blunt with you I trust the US Mail to deliver my ballot to that office if I needed then to do so. It works very well indeed.
Oregon turnout is considered low at 70%. New York, also a closed Primary State, has not broken 30% turnout in years. NYC the turnout is generally 20% which means about 12% of eligible Democrats in NYC manage to vote. Which turnout is best for the Party?
frylock
(34,825 posts)I like to thank the volunteers and get my 'I Voted' sticker to wear around the office.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)I can check my ballot status online.
auntpurl
(4,311 posts)That way the votes can be hand-counted and verified even after the fact if necessary. And it eliminates voter disenfranchisement.
merrily
(45,251 posts)I see lots of potential for election fraud.
I know we have absentee ballots now, but they are not often sufficiently numerous to swing an election.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)It's already a major felony to fuck with the mail, so you have that additional layer of protection.
In Oregon you can track your ballot, make sure it was received.
I suspect like ANY system there are probably weaknesses but by and large it seems to make far more sense than they way it is done currently.
Oh, and in Oregon we do have polling places, so people can come in and vote with their ballot, or drop it in a secure box, instead of mailing if they so choose.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Vote by mail probably has a glitch. Maybe they will dispose of ballots that support the real Democrat. Maybe they will attack mail handlers and steal the mail.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)and your verbiage indicates you previously trusted him. He voted for NAFTA while in the House, he voted for CAFTA which even Hillary voted against. So if you trusted him previously, with his full support of free trade bills it just seems contradictory to declare this to be your line in the sand. His views on free trade should be a surprise to no Democrat.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)I won't make that mistake again.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)If a position on *ONE* single issue is enough for you to dismiss them...
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)I just hope your line remains consistent...
MurrayDelph
(5,301 posts)He sincerely believes that the TPP will bring jobs to Oregon, which is his top priority.
Don't forget he has been in the foreground regarding personal privacy and Net Neutrality.
(And I drop my ballot off at a county collection site eight blocks away.)
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Democat
(11,617 posts)Sounds like a hard way to go through life.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Vote at your convenience with a paper trail and no way for anybody to mess with it.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)I always vote by mail here in CT anyway (absentee ballot).
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)bulk mail is no longer allowed to travel through my cities post office! Because in 2006 a candidates mail card, for his campaign was checked in, but never checked out, and was never delivered. They investigated and it was no where to be found, yet it was checked in. That mail represented every dime the candidate raised to reach all the voters for his election. Some states have a larger demographic of people who don't live for corruption. My state is number one, this year number two for corruption.
Can you guess where I am?
bkkyosemite
(5,792 posts)back. The only worry I have is that the tabulators are owned by a private company. I would want for oversight on that issue.'
Also in CA you can vote online. But that is a worry for me.