We all remember the poll tax, a law used to stop African American's from voting and declared unconstitutional back in the '60s. Gone forever, a discriminatory relic from our past.
Well move over Mississippi, Colorado now has a poll tax while yours was ruled unconstitutional. And quite possibly many other states have the same thing.
Ok, we're talking stamps for mail-in ballots. And make no mistake, it does cause voter supression of certain groups. That's what bothers me, not the cost which is minimal, but the fact that it does reduce the voting of certain groups. And because of a very small amount of money.
Yes we have stamps at home - because my wife gets them. But when I was single getting a stamp meant going somewhere that sold stamps. Actually planning ahead - never. And I think most single guys fall in the same category, not to mention many others. If you're poor I don't think buying a roll of stamps tops the priority list.
The stamp requirement suppresses the vote of the disorganized and the poor. And for an amount of money that is probably less than that spent on the County employee's Christmas party. (Note: in Colorado the County Clerk runs each election.)
But it gets even more interesting on a close reading of the Colorado election law.
Ok, so lets look at the law. First is 1-7.5-107 4b which states (emphasis added):
The eligible elector may return the marked ballot to the designated election official by United States mail or by depositing the ballot at the office of the official or any place designated by the official. The ballot must be returned in the return envelope. If an eligible elector returns the ballot by mail, the elector must provide postage. The ballot shall be received at the office of the designated election official or a designated depository, which shall remain open until 7 p.m. on election day. For an election coordinated by the county clerk and recorder, the depository shall be designated by the county clerk and recorder and located in a secure place under the supervision of a municipal clerk, an election judge or a member of the clerk and recorder's staff. For an election not coordinated by the county clerk and recorder, the depository shall be designated by the designated election official and located in a secure place under the supervision of the designated election official, an election judge, or another person designated by the designated election official.
The other interesting part is rule 13.2 which states (emphasis added):
The county clerk and recorder shall keep a list, to the extent possible, of the names and mailing addresses of all individuals who deliver more than five (5) voted mail-in ballots to the designated or coordinated election official’s office or the designated drop site for mail-in ballots.
And provisional rule 12.8.2 (which may no longer be in force, but I found nothing that spoke to this same question in the later rules) which states:
ANY ELIGIBLE ELECTOR MAY DELIVER IN PERSON TO THE DESIGNATED OR COORDINATED ELECTION OFFICIAL'S OFFICE NO MORE THAN 5 VOTED MAIL BALLOTS FROM MEMBERS OF HIS OR HER FAMILY OR HOUSEHOLD.
Ok, so the law makes it real clear that the elector, and no one but the elector, must provide their own postage. The law also makes an exception for delivering ballots in person where clearly I can bring in the ballots of my family members. But there is no such exception for the purchase of postage.
Ok, I'm not a lawyer, but a logical reading of the wording here says my ballot is invalid for two reasons:
- My wife bought the stamp I used. She has her own job and we have separate checking accounts so she purchased this with her money from her income using her checking account. It was not my or joint money.
- I used a 2¢ stamp so the Boulder County Clerk's office paid the other 39¢ (thank you) thereby paying most of my postage.
- And is the County Clerk breaking the law by paying for part of my postage?
- Do I need to charge my daughter 41¢ (which she will pay out of the allowance I give her) if she votes?
It may be that as many as half the mail-in ballots violate this statue one way or another. And with the lesson of the Bush administration in mind, we don't want to say ignore the law and just do what we think is best.
Clearly the law needs to be changed. Preferably to state that ballots have postage paid envelopes included with them.
More on the specifics of this case in Colorado at my blog Liberal and Loving It