The Oregon Experience

[Generator]

Things make sense here. That I voted avatar! YEAH of course I voted about two weeks ago-it seems a little remote-now I just wait until 8PM for election results.I sat down with my ballot at hand and my voter's guides-and voted at the kitchen table. Nobody initmated me, (strangled me-I just saw some post claiming as such) told me it wasn't the right DAY to vote, and the weather had nothing to do with it. Civilized. I just read all these reports as if the rest of the country is another country or something. WOW. And even if you wait until the last SECOND to vote here, you can hand it in at 8PM as long as you are in line at a drop site at 8PM.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/7/13535/4734

As already reported voting difficulties continue to frustrate voters in another decisive election, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden renewed his proposal to simplify the way Americans vote. Wyden has introduced legislation to provide funds to help states adopt Vote by Mail election systems, such as Oregon's.

"The great Yogi Berra said it best: 'It's Déjà vu all over again.' Except instead of the boys of October, we're talking about the long lines and broken machines of November." Wyden said. "Allegations of election fraud and voter suppression were once rarities, today they're business as usual for the American voter. It's time to stop throwing taxpayer dollars at a broken system. Oregonians have a solution--Vote by Mail."

For more than a decade Oregonians have been successfully voting by mail. Up to three weeks before Election Day, ballots are sent to all registered voters, giving busy families time to research their votes and carefully mark their ballots, which are then either dropped in the mailbox or delivered to secure drop boxes at libraries, county offices and other convenient locations. Trained election officials then match the signature on each ballot against the signature on each voter's registration card, before processing the vote.

The transparency of Vote by Mail eliminates virtually all fraud, while addressing many traditional voting challenges.

[LisaM]

1. But, do you have to pay for postage?

And how do they handle a candidate dying or dropping off the ballot?

I don't support Vote By Mail for a variety of reasons, but having to pay for postage is one of them. Voting should be free.

[CabalPowered]

4. There's lots of drop off boxes so you can skip the postage

all together.

[Bobbieo]

5. Postage free in AZ!!

[Generator]

7. It takes gas or a bike tire (or I suppose if you are lucky just calories)

to get to the polls. But YES, there are numerous drop sites. In fact mine is my local library, and I didn't mail it but dropped it for free, and the library is 25 blocks from here. Not much of an excuse then.

[Omphaloskepsis]

8. They have drop boxes all over the place.

I just dropped mine off a few hours ago at the library. It took four seconds. How long did you stand in line today?

[central scrutinizer]

9. there are drop boxes around town

and it easy to just swing by one and drop it off - no different than going to your polling place except you don't have to wait in line and you can fill out your ballot with all of your information in front of you and your computer if you need to do further research on a ballot measure, etc. Postage is not an issue unless you live miles away from town, then the postage would be a lot cheaper than driving to your polling place.

[MissB]

10. There are tons of drop sites around big cities.

The ballots come out a bit less than three weeks before the actual election day. I suppose the danger of a candidate dying is about the same across the country and would be handled in much the same way.

Typical drop sites around town are libraries and county clerks offices. Downtown always has people standing along one certain curb to take the ballots from people as they pull up. The county elections office has a two lane, one way street with tents set up on each side of the street so they can have two people collecting ballots.

I used a drop box on the way to the grocery store last week. It was a mailbox type box, bolted down to its location in the parking lot of a hardware store. I happened to drive that way today (lunch time) and there was a nice line of cars waiting to drop their ballots off there.

After many years of vote by mail, I can't imagine why everyone doesn't do this.

[0rganism]

14. that's nothing, compared to the cost of standing in line for a day

Also, the state picks up extra postage when ballots exceed the standard mail weight.

[me b zola]

15. I live in Oregon

What we do in our home is fill out our ballots @ home, and then take them to the county board of elections on election day. The gas, I'm sure cost more than a postage stamp, but we enjoy the energy and excitement of the day and like to get that "I just voted" feeling by dropping our ballots in the ballot box.

I think that vote by mail is a wonderful system even though we choose to wait for election day to cast our votes. Many people don't have flexability in their daily schedule or are home bound and getting around can be difficult. Voting should be accessible to all, and voting by mail, IMO, is the best method to ensure all get the opportunity to cast their ballot.

[Swede Atlanta]

17. Huh?

Even if Oregon's ballots are printed 6 weeks in advance, the likelihood of changes in the slate of candidates is minimal and could be corrected by re-distributing updated ballots. As for the 'free' part, I don't think voting is free anywhere. I had to drive to the polling place and park. By the time I add up the cost of the gasoline and mileage wear on my car I would gladly have taken my ballot out of the mailbox and sat down at the dining room table and voted and gladly paid the postage.

But in reality let's think about this. The states with polling places have to man the polling places,(even if they rely either on volunteers or low-wage precinct workers), pay for the machines including transporting them, storing them, maintaining them, etc. I suspect most states would actually save alot of money by going to mail voting and could well afford to pay the price of postage.

My sister and her family live in Oregon and love mail voting. I would go for it here in Georgia in a heartbeat. Plus there is a paper trail if a recount is needed.

[renate]

2. yup, voting by mail is the way to go

No taking time off from work, no long lines, no busted voting machines, no last-minute changing of the ID-required-or-not rules....

...love it.

[FightingIrish]

3. I'm proud to be an Oregonian

My whole family voted over a week ago. My sister in Washington was able to vote by mail this year as they have adopted a similar system. With vote-by-mail there are no excuses for not voting and being able to think each measure through and compare each candiadate carefully has got to be good for democracy.

[Mme. Defarge]

13. Go Notre Dame!

[Gregorian]

6. Our ballots are optical scan ballots.

There's plenty of room for voter fraud.

To be honest, I was nervous about putting mine in my mailbox. The big fat cow republican mailwoman knows I'm a Dem from all of the mail I get. I wouldn't be surprised if she tossed it out her window as she drove off.

[Generator]

11. I am aware of that

And of course, if "they" really want to they can mess with anything. I DID notice, however, that pre election polls mirrored exactly what the votes were in 2004. Kerry won the state, AND the anti-gay marriage passed.

[Mme. Defarge]

12. A fellow Oregonian here ...

A couple of weeks ago Thom Hartman was interviewing someone who had taken up the cause of exporting our system to other states. It was reassuring to get a reminder of the safeguards that are in place, such as signature comparisons on the outer envelopes.

It is my practice to drop off my ballot on election day, rather than mailing it in. For one thing, it is always possible for new information to come to light after you've mailed your ballot that might affect how you would have voted. Also, I just like the ritual of voting on election day.

The only thing I don't like about vote-by-mail is the potential for voter intimidation within a household. But, as Hartman's guest speaker pointed out, no system is perfect and that overall Oregon has a comparatively clean and efficient process.

[LisaM]

18. Especially those big households of religious cultists

I find that to be another worry, compelling a vote.

When Paul Wellstone died, though, people who'd already mailed in their ballots lost their vote. Would that happen in Oregon? (I still think that is so unfair).

[gratuitous]

16. And when my ballot didn't come in the mail

I just called the county elections office, and had a replacement ballot in my hot little hands the next day. Filled in my ballot, mailed it off right then and there.