Early Voting Sign, Santa Fe, NM, October 2012, by divineorder
We mailed in our ballot this past weekend, though we were quite glad we had read ban nock's post first.
Colorado (and Ohio and Montana) Mail in Ballot Voters Beware+*
by ban nock
Who knows, we might have just gotten in a hurry and slapped a stamp on it and stuck it in the mail box. Instead, we decided to take it down to the Post Office here in old Santa Fe, NM. Sure enough, our guess that one stamp would do it for the early voting mail in ballot was wrong.
Architectural Detail, Santa Fe, NM, October 2012, by divineorder
We are retired,have a condo here in Santa Fe where we stay some months each year, and this year we won't be in TX to vote in person. We applied to vote by mail, became anxious when we found that our application was returned.
Seems we had not read the very user friendly web info very closely and had mailed in our app too early. Meh. So they mailed us another app and we mailed it back. We began to feel anxious when it did not seem to come back in a timely manner. We looked up info on excellent Travis county website, called and the person we talked to looked us up said it was ' in the mail.'
"The ballots are here, the ballots are here!!!!"
Early Voting Ballot, Travis County, Texas, October 2012, by divineorder
It finally came over a week ago, leaving us plenty of time to return it.
Loving It
We LOVED the first experience voting by mail:
Early Voting Ballot, Travis County, Texas, October 2012, by divineorde
Here are some of our thoughts about our first experience:
1. My wonderful wife fortified me for my first mail ballot experience by pouring me a homemade chipolte-infused Tito's Handmade [in Austin] Vodka martoonie, poured herself a glass of red ! Let's party! Never knew voting could be so much fun!
2. We competed to see who would be able find the info first, using the interwebs to educate ourselves about some races and candidates we were unfamiliar with. We travel about six months a year, and don't keep a very close watch on news on races for judge, ect. We read to each other interesting tidbits that we read about these races, media gossip, etc. We still voted Dem for the most part though. :) Before anyone starts, we did not vote Republican for any of them. (At least I didn't, and would be willing to bet my next pension check that she did not either.)
3. Various propositions required lots of research, looking at various points of view. We are 63 and have to admit that this area is one in which, especially in our younger years before the internet, where we have not always done our due diligence.
4. Other advantages? We did not have to deal with long lines at the polls, mofo's trying to discourage us from voting etc etc. Heh. (Yeah yeah, know its great fun to stand in line with our fellow Americans... Enjoy!)
Dailykos has done a wonderful job reporting on voter suppression and effort to halt this plutocratic Republican fail.
Bison Bull, Yellowstone National Park, USA, September 2012 by divineorder
Some States Bullish on Mail Ballot Programs, Increase Voter Participation!
While preparing for this post I came across this recent piece in the NYTimes which debated vote by mail as a way to lessen voter suppression and improve turnout:
Sunday Dialogue: To Enhance Democracy, Expand Vote-by-Mail
Published: October 20, 2012
Snip
In 48 states, there’s a far more effective voter suppression strategy than requiring photo IDs at the polls. It’s requiring polling places, period.
That’s right: It’s time to abolish these Norman Rockwellesque temples of civic participation, where voters can commune with fellow citizens in that great ritual of American democracy.
Oregon voters did exactly this in 1998, when they overwhelmingly approved requiring election officials tomail ballots to all registered voters. Most mail back their ballots, though about 20 percent return them in person. A few even receive and vote their ballots at elections offices. Washington State fully embraced the system this year.
The result? Consistently high — often, the nation’s highest — turnout rates of registered voters. If all 50 states used this system, at least 20 million additional votes could be cast in most national elections, and perhaps 50 million more in primary elections.
What about fraud? Coercion? Stolen ballots? Other election mischief? After tens of millions of ballots cast, the actual incidents in Oregon — and then, only of individual voter fraud — can be counted on two hands.
In November 2010, just two states exceeded 70 percent turnout of their registered voters: Oregon and Washington. Key states that didn’t break 50 percent include Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, New York and Texas.
Sold me.
The NYTimes link above presents views of critics of voting by mail who claim that this is the least secure way to vote. Others decry the use of electronic voting machines.... YMMV
Vote by mail, vote by phone, vote over the internet, vote vote vote !!
Of course we have been up with the idea of voting by phone since we first learned about it from our friend BoulderiteEvan Ravitz, founder of Vote.org and his efforts to get passed voting by phone in Boulder, CO. Since we travel so much we do most of our business over the internet and telephone, and we are all in with vote by phone.
Architectural Detail, Santa Fe, NM, October 2012, by divineorder
We've Come Along Way -- All Good ?
Check out the findings of the Caltech Voting Technology Project for research on pros and cons of various methods of voting.
Voting: What Has Changed, What Hasn't, & What Needs Improvement
Submitted by gbain on Wed, 10/17/2012 - 08:39
in:
Featured Content
Author(s):
R. Michael Alvarez, Caltech; Jonathan N. Katz, Caltech
Charles Stewart III, MIT; Ronald L. Rivest, MIT
Stephen Ansolabehere, Harvard; Thad E. Hall, University of Utah
In this report, we examine how voting technologies and election administration in the United States have changed—or have not changed—since the controversial 2000 presidential election. We present our research and analyses of the past 12 years, as well as the perspectives of a number of individuals prominent in the election administration, voting technology, and election advocacy communities.Based on our research reported here, we provide the following recommendations for how we might improve the administration and technology of elections in the United States.
Date Published: 10/18/2012
http://www.vote.caltech.edu/...
We love the vote by mail option.
We really like the programs Oregon and Washington have put in place. Will work toward getting this in TX.
Architectural Detail, Santa Fe, NM, October 2012, by divineorder
Thanks for stopping by.
Would love to read your thoughts and experiences re voting by mail!
How are you voting this year????