I've evolved on this issue, because I was worried about security. Yes, there are some issues of security and coercion with at home voting but, according to this article, it is apparently less a problem than with other methods of voting.
The tactics of Southern states to suppress votes will ultimately backfire if enough people protest and resist their racist tactics.
4
I have been an “absentee” (mail-in) voter in California for 30 years. When my daughters were growing up, this provided us the opportunity for an applied civics lesson. With every election, after dinner in the evening, we would sit as a family, go over the ballot and election materials, discuss each candidate and ballot measure, and debate “our” vote. Both daughters have grown up to be active engaged citizens who taking their votes seriously. Voting from will not just improve voter turnout, it may also increase voter awareness.
Why isn't there a voting app?
To those who say "but hackers!" I would ask you how what we currently have is any different.
1
Home voting is a great idea, but one problem it has is that it removes the privacy of the polling booth.
That might sound funny at first, but imagine living in a family with an abusive spouse or parent who makes sure they get to see how their family members mark their ballots.
When you vote in a polling booth, you can tell your spouse or your parent whatever you think they'd like to hear, about how you're going to vote. But then when you're actually in the booth, you can vote any way you like.
I think at a high level it's worth the trade-off in the end, but it's important to keep this problem in mind.
2
There is a significant problem with using signatures as a biometric ID. Cursive writing is no longer taught in schools and is rarely used by young people.
3
I think this is a great idea.
Perhaps in certain states voting at home could be introduced, experimentally on off year elections and then voting at voting booths on the next regular election. Then compare all relevant data from both elections.
A final decision to change completely to voting at home could eventually be made, and how it should be made as fool-proof as possible.
2
Paper ballots folks. Imagine that.
The American attention span is close to zero now, but deal with it.
Deny Donald Trump the assistance he so desperately needs from the Russians .
7
I was a registered voter in both New York and New Jersey before moving to Utah. I was here early enough to experience the end of the polling station. Let me tell you: Mail-in ballots are the most wonderful thing ever. Why this system isn't federally mandated across the nation is a political atrocity. My previous experiences feel grotesque in comparison.
You can register through the DMV website in under 5 minutes with nothing but a driver's licence. In fact, the DMV asks you to register when you get the licence. The registration is automatically re-registered any time you submit an address change through the USPS. Again, less than 5 minutes on the website.
They mail you a questionnaire to confirm your party affiliation before printing your ballot. This even for primaries. They then mail you the official ballot a month in advance of the submission deadline. You can then choose to hand the ballot to your postal carrier or submit the ballot in person to any certified drop off location. This all the way up to close on election day.
If there's a problem with your registration or ballot, the county flags your ballot, notifies you of the problem, and gives you a timeline to respond before your ballot is invalidated. For me, a short walk to the county office down the street. That's it.
Why this system is not universal is absolutely insane. I love sitting down with a cup of coffee and researching the candidates and issues over breakfast. Why should anyone stand in line?
10
@AndyIt is not Federally mandated because the Constitution give the right to determine how elections are run to the States.
Article 1 section 4 "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof"
That being said, I agree that the option of mail in ballots should be seriously looked into by the individual states.
As an Oregonian I vote by mail. We get a voters pamphlet and a ballot sent to us. It's been decades since I voted in a booth.
Good grief, America, get with it. Easy, comfortable, and there's a paper trail.
Do it! Demand it! It's our watch. No time to waste.
7
I vote for home voting. Please mail me a ballot on this.
1
Sure, not a chance this would be compromised, right?
That “noon” business in New York State was surprising.
I assumed that the hours were 6 A.M. to 9 P.M. statewide, as they are here in New York City.
1
@Jerrold
General elections are all 6 AM to 9 PM. Primary hours, outside of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess and Erie counties, are noon to 9 P.M.
What have we here? Good news for a change? Oh, wait, Trump hasn't weighed in yet.
"One possible problem with home voting is the lack of voting privacy, combined with family power imbalances — a husband, for example, could force his wife to vote a certain way. Or someone can wave cash at people for their vote. "
This is a much bigger potential problem than we acknowledge.
A Republican woman told me that she always hands her ballot to her husband.
And, I can imagine a boss requiring his employees to vote as he orders.
(As it is, many bosses pressure employees to pay to attend fund raisers for their favored candidate. The boss gets kudos and access as a "bundler", the employee gets the money back in a bonus--and, "going along" makes, eg, making Partner more likely)
The other plus to home voting in Washington State is that every voter is sent a voters guide which lists all of the candidates and measures on the ballot, statements by all the candidates outlining their positions, and pro and con arguments for all the measures.
You can take your time filling in your ballot while referencing the voters guide.
And it is impossible for the news media to conduct polling place polls because there are no polling places and no voters coming out of polling booths to be questioned.
6
I'm a Republican. I don't have any problem in going to the polls and voting, but I understand the angst of many that have to wait in long lines to vote. It's ridiculous.Long lines create voter suppression....Mass voting by mail or by encrypted email is susceptible to fraud. That will happen..And certainly those that can't make it to the polls should have the right to do so by affidavit. ...That being said, I support a federal law that requires that a voter should not have to wait over an hour to vote at his precinct in federal elections ...If such a situation occurs at any precinct in a prior election, that precinct should be forced to be split in to two precincts. If that doesn't work in the following election, split it again..The argument that Counties don't have the money to do so is not valid...Allowing the people of your County to vote at the polls in a reasonable time is a prime function of County Government. If the County has to raise taxes to supply more precincts, then raise taxes..If a county persists in making voters wait unreasonably, the state should step in and take control of the County Clerk and mandate that the County Government raise taxes to fix it's problem.... If Republicans want people to go to the polls to vote, they should support efforts to eliminate the long lines that thwart voters from doing so...
3
Yes, yes, yes, and yes again! I've lived in Washington state for about 25 years, so have voted many times both before and after vote-at-home started in 2012. In virtually every way, voting at home is far far better than before, when a voter had to get themselves to a specific location (how far? parking? buses?) on a specific day, no matter their schedule, no matter the weather, no matter their physical and fiscal ability to get there. It's simply night and day. At this point, my memories of voting at polling places in California, South Carolina, and Washington seem vague and foggy, almost dreamlike - we used to vote that way? Ridiculous!
4
As a Floridian, all I can say is that no matter how the citizens of the state vote, the politicians find a way around it. We voted for money to go to the Glades, former governor and now Senator Scott spent the money on everything else but the Glades. We put in an amendment so that prior felons can vote. The pols got together and added a clause that would force former felons to pay fines in order to vote. They continue to go against what the majority of the people here want and vote for.
7
Contrary to Ms. Wyman's opinion mail at home options are less expensive that any others. Safer. Convenient. Unhackable. And. Cheaper. Much cheaper. We here in WA. have show that many cycles since we adopted Mail In Voting.
3
Pennsylvania is just about on par with New York regarding voting. I can't understand why our GOP legislature won't go to vote-by-mail instead of paying some corporation millions for machines. Oh, wait, I just answered my question.
4
@AnnaJoy: Won't paper ballots, mail-in or not, be tallied by the same machines? New York uses paper ballots, which are tallied by machines, and also saved so they can be counted by hand as a quality check.
1
California's vote-by-mail works well. An important feature is the ballot pamphlet that comes with a ballot. It contains statements from the candidates, arguments pro and con for ballot measures, and so forth. The result is an informed voter.
4
@Charles Tiege. How naive can you be, Why do you think this ballot is filled put by an actual voter?
You can address voter intimidation by allowing people to recast a ballot in person that overrides the mail-in vote, and it also gives people a chance to change their minds if relevant information comes out late in the process.
1
From what I read, absentee(paper ballots) many times are only counted if their sum total is enough to change election results. The comments in the article about GA's voter fraud have not been substantiated. All most of us want is a fair count.
1
@Franklin Yes, those charges have been substantiated. Kemp The Unelected Cheat just won't let any investigation go forward, and he's harassing Abrams' organization to desperately try to deflect. Meanwhile, he's forcing through outrageously illegal laws just to pander to his most rabid supporters.
5
Why is Ms. Wyman a Republican, again? She really seems to be out of step with her party's enthusiastic pursuit of voter suppression.
4
How about validity ?
2
@Siegfried
Validity is guaranteed by signature matches. Trust me it works.. Had my wife sign mine once since I was out on business and forgot to mail it in time. We got a nastygram from the elections commission and my ballot wasn't counted.
@D. Renner. Sure it is.
A dubious idea. Voting is a public act and a responsibility of citizenship. Early voting, late voting, vote by mail, etc. detract from this and make it seem like any other personal choice. It's a short=run gain, but a long=term loss.
4
I disagree, I always vote by mail. This way I have lots of time to research candidates. Our family discusses the pros and cons and then we each vote accordingly. It is also a great way to model voter participation to the next generation.
4
@Martha Grattan: Can't you research and discuss and then go to a poll site?
@Michael Livingston
Where I live voting is private. I don't care if the few people at the polling place while I am there see me, or not. And it is a responsibility that need not involve transporting oneself to a specific physical place during certain limited hours on a work day.
1
The time has come. Voting from home via encrypted connection from point to point, similar to WhatsApp and others.
Of course, the Israeli’s, I believe, furnish software that dispenses with the encryption hassle altogether, it just attacks the phone itself or end point directly and scoops up everything decrypted.
People, we have seen that Russia and everyone else does not bother with hacking the encryption. They ‘spear-fish.’ They send emails hoping you’ll click on anything in the email. Of course, once you do, you’re done. Your phone, your Mac, your Android, your PC. You’re infected.
Therefore we MUST BE VIGILANT! As a courageous American do NOT send any emails to the Election Commission! Especially those requiring action!
To The Election Commission: Don’t click within any emails! Anyone! This means you! The email will want you to follow up, correspond, or do something with Russians or Republicans. Don’t be tempted! Call your supervisor by phone if necessary. Drive over personally if you have to. Just no email clicking!
But voting from home is great! Let’s do it.
2
Here in California, I have been on the permanent absentee ballot list for over a decade. I get my ballot mailed to me about two weeks ahead of the election along with a voter's information booklet prepared by the Secretary of State. I have the time to review the issues and mark my ballot accordingly. As long as my ballot is postmarked by the day of the election, it counts.
Our system seems to work well, and it handles a huge number of people without any major hiccups. Any doubters are welcome to come out and talk to our officials about the details, but we have been doing this for sometime. . . . .
2
It’s fantastic that states are moving to mail ballots! All of the barriers to voting are removed, voting becomes much simpler, and NO HACKING! I also had permanent mail ballots in California once they set up that system and loved it, and now in Washington state. Having time at home to read the whole voter’s pamphlet and then filling in the bubble is heaven.
3
As an Oregonian, having voted by mail now for almost 20 years, I love it. No lines to wait in. No missed work. No creepy e-voting machines that don't produce paper records.
I can take my time with the ballot. If there is a ballot item or a bond, or school district that I don't know enough about, I can take my time and look up those issues then make a more informed decision. If you're worried about the postal service there are secure voting drop boxes in locations across town.
Is it perfect? No. But none of the other processes are either.
I know people are worried about change, people always are...
6
It IS your responsibility, as a voter, to qualify to vote or to get a ballot. Minors and illegal aliens no not get to vote. Felons don't get to vote, in most states. NOT EVERYONE GETS TO VOTE.
1
What does that have to do with voting from home? Other countries do it successfully. It would make voting much easier for those who lack transportation or have trouble getting out. We should be making participation in our system easier, not more difficult. If only the GOP would get the message.
6
@Topher S
I was responding to the author, who quoted a former Oregon secretary of state as saying, "It’s not my responsibility to qualify for it and get it."
It IS your responsibility to qualify, and in fact, verify that you're qualified to get a bollot. (Did you read the article?)
1
@Raz
Actually no, its not.
All the qualification hoo-hah was added at a later date, usually as some kind of control mechanism.
Laws like New York's Motor Voter, that automatically register voters have it right: the whole point is to get the most people to cast a ballot that you can.
Unless, of course, you have no confidence you can win.
Yes, there have been problems, mostly unresponsive beurocracies, but the idea is a good one: get everybody registered.
The blatant and unforgivable gerrymandering, poll closings, list purging, endless lines that predominate in troglodyte states like Ohio are clear demonstrations that our Conservative politicians have lost their way, not to say betrayed their oath and their country.
1
I can understand red states trying to suppress votes - republicans would lose every election otherwise. But New York? There is simply no excuse. Get your act together.
4
Remember NC09 and the absentee ballot fraud there?
There is a need for very strong safeguards before we go to all absentee voting.
1
When over half the eligible voters routinely choose not to vote, it is disheartening how disinterested the majority of American citizens are in both exercising or protecting this 'right'.
All the attention to voter enablement and voter fraud means little if over half the eligible voters simply don't care.
Hopefully in 2020, some of those non-voters will realize:
-by their inaction, it was THEY who 'elected' Donald Trump in 2016. Had they voted in 2016, much of what has transpired since would not have happened.
- by their inaction, it was THEY who sealed not just the Supreme Court, but also many lower courts rightward for the next generation
- by their inaction, it was THEY who chose to change tax codes, abortion rights, environmental protections, medical care, public education, immigration reform, international trade disputes and other profoundly important issues have been decided
- by their inaction, it was THEY who negated much of the social and environmental protections that have been taken for granted.
Yes, it is important to make voting accessible and reasonable for all citizens.
But all citizens must also realize that if they choose not to vote, they are indeed making a profound and long-lasting choice.
It wasn't the Russians, voter fraud, Facebook, broken machines, lost ballots or marauding hordes of 'illegals' who changed history in 2016 . . .
It was all those American citizens who consciously and deliberately chose not to vote.
2
Vote by mail all the way!
12
What if...right before election day, I move in with my new boyfriend, who lives in the same neighborhood as my old boyfriend, and my ballot goes to my old boyfriend's house, and he's a jerk and throws it away? Or he's an expert forger and uses my ballot to vote for...well, you know.
Mis-delivered mail? Hello, it's a real thing. Especially in multi-unit buildings.
I'm all for making it easier for everyone to vote. But all options should be just that: options. Have lots of different ways to vote and let everyone decide how they want to do it.
The one thing I do oppose is same-day registration. If you don't care enough about voting to bother to register beforehand, then you probably don't really need to vote.
But national Election Day holiday? YES!!!!!!!!!! :-)
4
Except for same-day registration (which I support) I agree with you wholeheartedly. Anything that makes voting easier without overly compromising security is a good thing. Other countries' voters don't even have to register, just show I.D. Unfortunately voter I.D. laws in the U.S. have been used to disenfranchise poor and voters of color. More voters now!
3
@Nadia, I think its illegal to vote for another person. They probably face jail time: https://www.aiga.org/globalassets/migrated-pdfs/021_e_info_binder
"a husband, for example, could force his wife to vote a certain way"
The other way around is also very possible. Or parents might force their adult children who depend on them (e.g. college-age) to vote a certain way. Lots of possibilities, not just men forcing women.
1
Well our democracy was great while it lasted. Hello voter fraud, "lost" voter ballots, and wide spread corruption.
2
I like the polling booth. I don’t trust any other way. I want my ballot accepted and droped in the box so to speak. I’m not secure with the USPS carrier handling my ballot instead of a poll worker. They already have enough mail to worry about. I was a poll worker in Santa Monica California in 1992. I was a field rep for the 2004 Kerry campaign in Ohio and
witnessed first hand intimidation at polling sites, forced provisional balloting, voter challenges, and again the same thing happened when I work for Andrea Stewart Cousin and during the mayoral Democratic Primary campaign for Gifford Miller and the dirty work of Scott Stringer and others.
It obvious way many politicians want and are willing to cheat and to me I’d rather have the dirty deeds done out in the open then in the home. Trust me, dirty skunks will find a way to pervert the results if no is looking and there is hardly justice to be sought. Many of us watcher know that Trump stole votes in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. That’s a fact even Pelosi knows
to be true. That’s why she is agreeing with many poll watchers that the Democrats need 12 million more votes in 2020 to counterbalance the theft that will occur by the Trumpist. She’s not hounding for mail-in ballots but just getting voters to the polls to be counted, heard and seen. Anything less like the naive mail-in ballots option will be challenged or mysteriously discarded by Trumps lawyers and his Republican supporters until they win.
2
Dropping sealed ballots at City Hall doesn't work? What if you're allowed to drop them at any city hall, even a few towns over where there are fewer skunks?
If we can file our income taxes electronically, safely, securely, why can't we vote electronically, safely and securely?
7
@Asheville Resident -- Because vote hacking targets the central system which every voter (in a particular jurisdiction) is accessing, with varying levels of control or security. The income tax system (and yes, I submit taxes electronically) is much more diffuse, and each return is subject to several layers of security - besides being a fairly low value target.
1
How would you eliminate the possibilities for fraud and vote buying with mail-in ballots? A 2018 congressional election in North Carolina was invalidated due to improper handling of absentee ballots.
3
I live in Florida, where during the 2018 elections tens of thousands of absentee ballots were not counted. Considering the razor sharp wins by trump supporters for both governor and senator, there is no way I will be voting by mail.
5
If you vote by mail in ballot in FL you can call afterwards to make sure that it arrived and was counted.
When the secret ballot was introduced in Britain in the mid-19th Century it was a major step for democracy. It ended vote buying and intimidation.
Just because these haven't been problems in the recent past doesn't mean they cannot become major problems in the future, given the opportunity.
11
My only concern is the propensity for fraud. say I go out to my neighborhood and convince a bunch of elderly folks I'll turn in their ballot (what was the state /district that was delayed on a win due to these types of shenanigans...for a GOP candidate. Other than that, I likey.
2
"[A] husband, for example, could force his wife to vote a certain way."
Not likely. If anything, a wife is much more likely to persuade her husband.
Tina Rosenberg for Editor. I continue to be impressed by her contributions to the NYT. Her articles are socially relevant and informative.
Mia Armstrong for rookie of the year.
3
In a small sample (4 people) Oregon voters preferred voting at the kitchen table to waiting at the precinct.
4
How many Fox viewers KNOW that voting in US was always intended ONLY for landowning white males?
2
"Why Can’t Everyone Cast Their Ballots From Their Couches?"
Why is it such a hardship to go to an official polling place (other than having to navigate the assaults of electioneers)?
4
@Satire & Sarcasm - In November, at 6500 ft altitude in the Sierras, there is this stuff called "snow." Even if the county backroads are plowed (good luck!), there is the matter of parking in a slippy-slidy lot that was not really intended to handle the level of traffic an election brings, most particularly when half of the lot is snow-packed and hazardous.
Which is why I applied for "permanent absentee" status shortly after I moved here. Been voting by mail for 15 years with no problems. As do many of my neighbors.
4
@Satire & Sarcasm The better question is WHY you have to drive to a polling place to vote. There is nothing in The Constitution about driving a car to a polling place. In Washington State we have had vote by mail for years, and fraud has not been a problem, except in the minds of people who think that voting should not be easy and fair.
11
Certain states have made it illegal to give other people a ride to the polls, to suppress the poor vote. Others have deliberately created polling places with hours long lines to dissuade the working classes. It is not a mere inconvenience.
3
And here in CT, the Republicans in the state Senate voted against and so blocked having a constitutional amendment on the 2020 ballot to allow early voting (it needed a 2/3 majority).
Voter suppression, CT style.
10
The real answer is finding a method to make it easier to vote whatever it is. Allowing multiple days of voting is one way, allowing voting from home, and yes even *gasp* online voting are options. The default should be to allow people to vote, the GOP has turned voting into like everything else, only available to those 'good enough to vote', which translates to trying to keep people from voting who likely won't vote GOP, pure and simple. For all the claims of voter fraud in an election with 60 million votes cast, after spending like 10 million dollars, the GOP was able to document 60 cases of confirmed voter fraud..and ironically most of it was GOP voters. If we do go to home voting like this I suspect the GOP will try and find ways to gunk up the process, challenging signatures, challenging postmarks, anything to suppress voting.
7
It is obvious to everyone that Republicans despise democracy and only care about having their way. Want to create a permanent Democratic majority? Eliminate the electoral college, eliminate gerrymandering and make it a legal requirement to vote. In such an environment, Republicans would lose almost everything and they know it.
19
@David R Want to create two countries inside of one...eliminate the electoral college. We are getting there anyway...this would just speed up the process. Just one old guy's opinion.
Who says you should make voting easy?
I thin it is becoming more and more apparent as time passes that universal suffrage is not something to strive for.
3
@Emily
Absolutely! Only the people who agree with me should be allowed to vote! It's only fair.
I live in Colorado now and lived in Washington some years ago. I love mail-in/drop-off voting. So convenient. I never felt any sense of camaraderie or togetherness or patriotism by going to the polls. Mostly inconvenient (and I voted anyway)- cold, dark, following signs around the school gymnasium...ugh. Along with mail-in voting, States need to provide a voter guide- CO and WA did that- mailed to each voter and available in libraries, etc. It lists the candidates, pros/cons of ballot measures, and links for each. Great resource!
7
As we continue to watch the clash between Democrats and Republicans the Republicans keep digging in their heels and shoring up the walls to try and protect their turf. This includes making it difficult for the poor and the hourly laborer to vote. Maybe they should spend some effort examining their beliefs and their politics instead.
3
Saw a show about this on the state of Oregon last year and after seeing that I'm all for their system.
It's not only easy, it's cost effective.
7
Another journalist repeating false innuendos on the GA election:
"One example is Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams by a sliver. At the time of the election, Mr. Kemp was secretary of state, overseeing voting, and rejected calls to resign and avoid a conflict of interest. Georgia purged thousands of voters from the rolls and threw out hundreds of absentee ballots. Some precincts had too few voting machines and hours when the machines were down. All of these issues disproportionately affected black voters."
1) Kemp did not oversee the voting. That's a duty of each county's election department. Kemp as chairman of an appeals committee, but he resigned before that could have occurred.
2) Purging election rolls is required by the National Voter Registration act. In Georgia, it takes 7 years of non-voting to be removed.
3) A shortage of election machines was primarily caused by a lawsuit in three counties. The machines were sequestered by Judge Amy Totenberg, an Obama appointee. Again the counties in question had the responsibility to allocate the available machines.
4) The absentee ballots that were rejected were because of signature differences. It's true that the exact match requirement is likely discriminatory, but the number rejected was small vs. the margin of victory.
Stacey Abrams' campaign literature has the following at the bottom, "It's never been easier to vote in Georgia". She likes having it both ways.
6
If we can safely and securely invest, bank, and date online, then we can vote online.
2
Not good. More voter fraud with all the new immigrants from nations where fraud is normal and part and parcel of their culture. What's to stop someone from selling their vote.
If computer bot can influence elections then what's to stop foreign governments from hacking the voting system. Lots of questions that need asking like what quality assurance is there in the system to stop voter fraud etc.
The internet was built for speed not security.
8
"with vote-at-home, the buyers can demand to see the ballot before it’s turned in. Still, such incidents are almost nonexistent."
If Ms. Rosenberg believes this, it can only be because she has deliberately avoided looking for abundant evidence of vote buying and other absentee-ballot or other remote-voting fraud.
The judge who threw out results for last fall's results in North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District and for several county races certainly found it. As have many other state elected officials where absentee voting is especially strong, often driven by strong patronage systems, churches and others with strong influence over those in their communities.
Only those systems where no one but the voter can see the marked ballot are worthy of the public's trust, especially in races with a very small total vote. The remedy for the disenfranchisement that such a system creates is more access to polling places before election day, including extended hours and mobile balloting vans that can roll up to nursing homes or factory sites, and more Election Day holidays.
7
I must confess that I too was enamored by the autumn leaf crunching ritual of voting. I thought that my right to vote was also my civic duty and I was happy to go to the polls stand in a reasonable line show my face and vote. After all if I voted and those too lazy to get out and do it, just made my vote more valuable. I was a very young progressive liberal then and a Eric Hoffer true believer. The country was convulsing with a distinct generation gap. In California we had the likes of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater right next door in Arizona. Oh how those guys liked to throw the likes of Mario Savio up in our face, and all the WW II vets were none to pleased to being call Fascists. After all they had spent their teens and twenties fighting the real thing, not going to UC Berkley. As the Republicans were rising to power they could see that they were having a harder time getting their most reliable votes out, and started pushing the us of absentee ballots up to the point that by the time Reagan was elected nearly 50% of the Republican vote was coming in absentee . I still thought we should vote at the polls, but when I moved to Oregon we soon when over to vote by mail and it just made sense in so many ways. Oregon has gone from having two Republican Senators and a Governor every other election to solidly Blue. The Republicans have learned the lesson too they for when it is found out the voter fraud turns out to be on their side.
3
Oh for heaven's sake! Is nothing worth getting off ones couch for these days? Going to ones precinct to vote is not such a horrible inconvenience. It's amazing how people got to the polls before there was even an automobile or when few owned such.
We don't need a national holiday on election day. Polls nearly everywhere are open very long hours - not that hard to find time either before or after work to go to the polls. Most people have some form of photo ID. One cannot go to a doctor's office without such, even with an insurance card. Or board an airplane!
I've been voting since I turned 21 (age at that time) in 1964. I turned 21 away at school, so couldn't register. I discovered that one only needed to register in First Class cities, so I declared the small town in which my father was born and where the old family home still was lived in by family, as my legal residence, so I could vote by absentee ballot.
There is something about going to the polls in ones precinct that is very much being a part of a community. Often poll workers are neighbors. One sees others from the neighborhood there. It's a nice feeling to all be doing something together at the same time, even if we vote for different candidates. That day, we're ALL citizens using our right to vote and doing our civil duty to do so.
Yes, sometimes lines are long, but they're also long at Walmart when the big Christmas bargains happen. Somehow, we don't complain about that, do we...
5
What makes this is such a strange column is that one party, the GOP, is trying to have as few Americans vote as possible. The GOP is also fine with foreign governments meddling the outcome of elections as long as it helps the GOP win them.
GOP does not believe in democracy so it wants fewer Americans vote the better.
13
@Son Of Liberty Hog wash.
@Franklin
Well, the available evidence certainly suggests that Son of Liberty is correct.
I've often wondered why a voter from any state would not have standing to sue, say the State of Georgia, for disenfranchising my vote in a national election. In a national election I think my vote from Washington State relies on a fair, accessible, and most importantly reliable and secure voting infrastructure all over the country.
Consider 2016 the electoral college win was determined by 77,000 votes from a few precincts in 3 states. There were "voting irregularities" in all 3 states. If a few strategically chosen precincts can affect the nation's choice of president or congressional majority why don't we all have standing to compel a nation wide secure voting infrastructure?
2 bits about voting from home here in Washington State. I did think I might miss the community experience. Yet even though ballots can be mailed in we take our ballots to the collection center on election day. There are always lots of other people bringing in their ballots.
The other bit is for Ms. Wyman, our Sec of State. It's helpful to know the GOP in our state is still so opposed to making the vote accessible. We will keep that in mind.
1
People should not be subjected to workday evening voting lines that take longer than 30 minutes to get through. Some local precincts seem to be unable or unwilling to solve the problem of after-work, 1,000+ person voting lines.
6
I am going to be in a very small minority here, but I am opposed to the elimination of the local (precinct based) voting. The diminution of public space is a loss, as much as the reduction of wilderness. Public space requires mingling with your fellow citizens, if only to stand in line. While you certainly can continue in your bubble in a public space, burying your head in your phone, you could also strike up a conversation with those standing next to you and so forth. Long live the Post Office, the DMV, The Polling Booth and Libraries.
19
@mg
I agree. Until I moved to Seattle recently, I voted at my local school, and I loved talking with people in line and thanking the poll workers and seeing how many people had voted already etc. It felt like civic participation, and I worked for candidates before elections and sometimes attended post-election parties. I vote by mail now, and it is such an alienating process. No wonder people out here think that government doesn't do anything. I appreciate that mail-in ballots are an important alternative for those who lack transportation or mobility. But is also important not to entirely eliminate opportunities for civic engagement and civic life.
4
@mg in PDX — the public spaces you name, the Post Office, the DMV, and Libraries are the chief means by which we Oregonians are enabled to vote. If you’re truly living in PDX (Portland), you might consider joining one of our many neighborhood associations where you can mingle with your fellow citizens and join with other Portlanders for the good of your neighborhood and environs. The associations are free to join. I’ve joined mine and not only converse with the other members at meetings, but while working on projects (everything from testifying at City Council meetings to litter cleanup) together. I also recognize and am greeted by other members when I’m walking on city streets — something that gives me a real sense of community in our large city.
2
I have to trust a whole lot of humans before my lonely little home ballot gets counted. And if there’s an Election Day surprise (and they do happen), I’ve lost my chance to take it under consideration. Finally, I like my polling place, I like bringing my kids to see the process, and I like seeing the volunteers who serve there. Now my county is going mail-in only. Thanks for nothing.
A few thousand years ago, representative democracy arose because societies realized that each citizen could not be informed enough to cast informed votes on all issues. Subsequently, they elected representatives whose job it would be to become experts, or at least well informed, to cast votes in their stead.
Modern communications has stood that system inside out. Today's representatives look to polls, determine what the mostly uninformed populace wants and then vote accordingly. Why then do even need these "representatives"? Let's cut out the corrupt middlepersons and let Pew Research, Marist College, Nielson, whoever, take their polls, collect their data, and implement policy that way. We mostly value ignorance over knowledge nowadays anyway so we might as well go all the way.
4
There is no system that is 100% secure from tampering and fraud, but the closest thing to it is mail-in ballots for all, backed up by universal availability of paper ballots if someone hasn't received their ballot in the mail. This provides more security from computer hacking and tampering, and ensures that everyone can get their ballot. I would also suggest that all paper ballots be constructed with a carbon backing so that the voter has a record of their ballot which could be used as confirmation if fraud were suspected.
But any changes to the current system will be fought fiercely by those who gain the most from the corrupted system we now have. We're going to have to vote these cheaters out of office and out of power if we're to get out basic fundamental right back.
2
"As long as it can be done with safety and integrity.."
There is zero possibility that it can be done with safety and integrity. In the future, those in power won't bother with piddling half-way voter suppression measures. They will simply steal elections by computer fraud.
This is exactly the wrong answer. The right answers are:
Voting in your neighborhood.
Voting on a paper ballot.
Election Day a paid holiday only for people who vote.
Transport to the polls for those who otherwise cannot get there without undue hardship; this free transportation figured into the cost of holding the election.
Absentee ballots only for those who apply ahead, with a good reason they cannot come to the polling place.
Voting should be a community activity if we are going to have communities. Make it a solitary activity only if you think this country has a problem with an excess of civic activities and civic life.
Dan Kravitz
7
The idea of using my signature to identify me is farcical. My signature on my voter registration card is 22 years old. When I was writing checks daily my signature would change every year or two. I no longer write checks daily, but I have to sign legal documents about once a month. Now my signature seems to change with each copy of each document. So if I sign 5 documents, there are 5 variations. This is as reliable as a wax or clay seal. When ballots are mailed to people they could include a place for a thumbprint with a lift up cover to protect it. If third world countries can use a thumbprint, why can't we?
8
Fraud is common is vote-by-mail states.
Years ago, a student of mine (in American Government) explained how her family in Oregon got four ballots. Her dad filled out all four and had her mom, her brother and her sign them.
He got four votes and the rest of the family got 0. She honestly didn't see that as fraud until I pointed it out.
we need paper ballots to be done at polling places (except for those who ask for an absentee ballot). we also need election day to be a national holiday
8
@paul
Your one example is not backed up by research. And since your example includes a student of voting age I deduce you must teach at the college level. Therefore I would think that your conclusion of "Fraud is common...." would be backed up by more than one anecdote.
As for your "student" perhaps you could encourage her to assert her voting rights with her father. If he is that dominating in his parenting I don't think that makes voting from home the problem. And he could prevent her from going to a polling place to vote in person.
3
@paul
Family hearsay of one bad dad is not a basis for policy decisions.
4
I would go one step further. In addition to making voting as convenient as possible, make voting compulsory for national elections. Everyone must submit a ballot.
Here's the reasoning: Today, only the fringes of each party vote in significant numbers (the party's "base"). This means politicians cater to the extremes.
If everyone voted, the political system would have to respond to the moderate middle. They would pass all the common-sense initiatives that most people want (but which don't pass today because the political calculus is about Motivating The Base).
Look at Australia where voting has been compulsory for years. It can work.
14
Azs an Oregonian, I want to report that the system works.
A few years ago (2008) I was notified that my ballot was rejected due to a discrepancy in the signature.
It seems our signatures often evolve over time and mine had changed enough that they caught it.
I went to the registrar of elections, proved my identity, signed a new signature card, and my vote was counted in that primary election.
And no rejected ballots since.
I get to fully consider my decisions before I vote.
I'm telling you, it's a REALLY great system.
41
@Peter Quince, I concur!
I missed going to the polls to vote when I first moved to Oregon, but have come to appreciate the fairness of the mailed ballot.
Plus, we drop off our completed ballots at the local library and that makes it feel even saner.
3
@Peter Quince I like the vote by mail as we do it here in Colorado also. But my signature changes every time I sign something. My voter registration card is 22 years old. If the county clerk ever checked signatures, I would have to go to the courthouse every single election. Luckily, my county clerk hasn't been that diligent. We could use a thumbprint like such advanced tech savvy countries as Burkina Faso or Cambodia. But such technical sophistication seems beyond the conceptual abilities of my state legislators.
3
Somehow, the concept that voting is not a right, but a privilege that needs to be earned, like driving a car, or carrying a concealed weapon, has gained currency with a surprising number of people.
While it is true that our idea of who is eligible to vote has evolved over the years to include former slaves and women, and is now shifting in the direction of former convicts, within that widening circle of eligibility, the franchise is (or should be) considered an absolute right.
Election monkeyshines have always been a part of the electoral landscape, and will probably continue to be despite our best efforts at fairness. However, voter suppression has become a major industry, particularly in the red states (oddly enough).
Using arcane rules, hard-to-obtain IDs, inconvenient hours and locations of polling places, the election mafia has managed to enhance gerrymandering as a means to retain minority power among increasingly Democratic constituencies.
Home voting is simply a better mousetrap. Here in Washington it has become the standard. It is easy to use, easy to track, and allows plenty of time to consider the candidates and the issues. Nevertheless, I'm sure the Republican strategists are hard at work trying to build a better mouse.
17
This is too sensible, too reasoned, for the party of obstruction to go along with it. No matter, however; history will march on, with or without Republicans.
27
@Rich
The numbers continuously show, (in any election) that the more people participate in elections, the more they tend to vote for a Democrat. The less they vote in numbers, then they tend to vote in (by razor thin margins) for the extreme right.
It is no wonder why republicans want to disenfranchise as many voters as possible to cling to power. (and to put their judges on the bench to subvert social policy and rights)
Sitting on the couch is no longer an option.
24
Any method that does NOT involve the internet. Paper cannot be hacked - and they can be accurately counted and recounted.
46
Voting online is fraught with problems as hacking could subvert an election. However, wouldn’t it be nice if you received an email with the ballot on it. You would fill out the ballot on your computer and it would be printed out for you. Thus you could check it and it would be guaranteed to be legible. Also you could put a plain envelope in your computer printer and it would print out prepaid postage on the envelope in which you could send you a printed ballot in. This way, there could be rapid election results backed up by a paper trail.
3
@LAM
Assuming of course that you own a computer, and a printer, and have internet at home, and have technical skills to fix computer glitches and/or a balky printer. For many middle class people these resources are taken for granted. Lots and lots of poor people do not own the equipment, and do not have internet at home. Many elderly may not have the technical skills.
1
More than 20+ years ago, my husband and I were casting our votes early in Colorado. When we moved to California, we realized how inconvenient going to a polling place on election day could be, so we started receiving our ballots by mail. Problem solved.
My only request would be to get the state to pay the return postage. On big ballots (and we have many) it takes more than one stamp. We've solved that problem by dropping off our ballots at city hall when we're out, but we're also only in our sixties and I can see a time when making that drive won't be convenient.
23
@Janet Schwartzkopf
In the state of Washington you can either return the ballot in the mail (the state pays the postage) or drop it off at one of the numerous ballot boxes. Where I live
pretty much all fire stations and large grocery stores
have a ballot box in their parking lot. Usually this means I have to walk about 10 extra feet to save the state the postage.
1
Years ago I obtained an absentee ballot. Each election the ballot arrives, weeks ahead of voting time, I also receive a discussion of all the pros and cons of issues, I spend a few hours reading and slowly make my choices and then drop it in the mail. Why isn't everyone doing this?
58
@RichardHead
Same, otherwise I would have NO idea which judges to vote for without having their names in front of me so I can look up their records online, ask my friends why they like/dislike certain candidates etc.
10
As soon as we take our first breath in this world, we are documented in some form or another, so why is it so hard to extrapolate from this point, that anyone coming to voting age, be automatically registered ?
Seems simple enough, doesn't it ?
The process can be confirmed once more as soon as anyone applies for any further type of identification (also honing in on district to actually vote in), such as a driver's license. We require all types of licences for all types of things (even to fish), so we are not talking any ''1984'' scenario to control our voting rolls.
Once that is all achieved, then obviously there are a few next steps that should be mandatory, such as voting itself. Just short of that, everything should be on paper ballots, and preferably mailing in. Then of course, there should a national holiday and same day registration for anyone that might have fallen through the cracks. Having multiple voting stations might help as well, instead of just one for hundreds of thousands of voters.
Democracy is not automatic, nor is citizenship. It is an advanced study that requires continuous participation and effort, otherwise simple rights become eroded. Human rights denied to some are human rights denied to all.
The least we can do is make our mark.
34
@FunkyIrishman —
Here in Oregon, one can be automatically registered to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles (whether one is getting a driver’s license or an official ID card for nondrivers). This isn’t “as soon as we take our first breath in the world,” but it sure covers a lot of people!
Alternatively, one can register to vote online, or by walking into a county elections office. It’s easy! And I echo the comment by Peter Quince — our vote-by-mail system really works well. It’s great!
4
@FunkyIrishman Good points! But the Hateful Right loses if we practice democracy, so we can kiss that one good-bye...
4
“It can drive people on my side of the aisle crazy a little bit: They think “voters should have to work for it, you can’t make voting easy.’"
Why and how is this a remotely defensible position in a democracy? The voters are the holders of the sovereignty in the first place! The state secretaries, the representatives making policy, the governors signing bills; all of them are there only because of the voters' mandate, and only so long as that mandate remains. Opposing voter suppression should be the least controversial position for every politician in this country and every other democracy.
69
@Logan
Key word in the last sentence: "should". But we know from the recently revealed emails about the citizenship question on the census that the GOP designs their policy to cheat...specifically to cheat, and they are proud of it. Voter suppression helps GOP candidates, so they do it everywhere they get a chance. So your right, opposing voter suppression SHOULD be uncontroversial...unless you have no moral foundation and will pursue policies that are illegal and are biased against Democratic voters. Because there's a (illegally) stacked Supreme Court, with no moral foundation, why not? They can get away with it, so why not? That which we teach our kids is wrong, is being used by the GOP to diminish democracy.
29
@JT
What do you suppose the gop teaches their kids?
You know, the ones with no moral foundation.
To be proud of specific designs to give themselves an advantage by cheating? True Christians?
3