Mail-In Ballots - No Cure-All for Voting Ills

Hoffman lists some ways to improve absentee balloting, including working with the Postal Service to ensure timely delivery, something included in Dyer's bill. He also discusses using envelopes marked for high-priority handling, as well as the use of “drop-off boxes” that would be emptied by elections board members. Project Vote also recommends signature verification; tabulation of votes as soon as ballots are received; ensuring that ballots cannot be forwarded; regulating “electioneering”; imposing significant sanctions for misappropriation of a ballot; and regulating delivery by partisan organizations, among others. For more information on absentee voting, please see this Project Vote report.

In view of voter enthusiasm for the absentee election reforms, it is likely the trend toward mail-in voting as an option will persist despite imperfections. As Hoffman wrote, “the expansion of early voting can ease congestion at the polls and make it easier for busy citizens to cast ballots. But it must be done with care.” The absentee ballot revisions enacted in Ohio show exactly the kind of problematic changes that happen when the effects of laws are not carefully considered. Given that of all the facets of our election system, absentee balloting is the one shown to be the most susceptible to fraud, Project Vote thinks it is prudent to take a “go-slow” approach to expanding mail ballot reforms, even as legislators explore more ways to make it easier for voters to cast ballots.

Please see links below for more information on absentee voting.

Quick Links:
“Your Ballot's In the Mail: Vote By Mail and Absentee Voting.” Project Vote. July 9, 2007.

Ohio Voter Information Guide: Absentee Voting. OH Secretary of State website.
Pre-Election Day and Absentee Voting By Mail Rules. Electionline.org

In Other News:

Arizona citizenship applications went up 69% in July, due in part to the upcoming presidential election, a historical trend in naturalization requests. Now, “political prognosticators are trying to determine how these new citizens and Hispanics in general will affect next year's state and federal elections.” Read more in the Tucson Citizen.

“ALBANY - The state Board of Elections has officially asked for the federal government's approval to delay the installation of new voting machines until 2009, but the elections board remains split on how to satisfy the needs of disabled voters until then.” Read more in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Erin Ferns is a Research and Policy Analyst with Project Vote’s Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD).

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