I was shocked, absolutely shocked to learn that the great American ballot box may soon go the way of stage coaches and Hula Hoops - everyone knows what they are but no one really uses them anymore.
Yes, in our little corner of the world (Sacramento and surrounding counties) more than 1/3 of the voters in the 2004 election chose to mail in ballots rather than making the effort to go to the polling place, wait in a very short line, and have the pleasure of actually seeing your ballot gobbled up by the magic ballot box. The election officials are predicting that this year it may actually be as high as 50% that choose the mail box over the ballot box. I mean, what part of "ABSENTEE" don't they understand? I understand the whole state of Oregon votes my mail but that is to be expected by the laid back populace of Oregon.
Actually, I think we should go all the way and allow voting online and by phone. We can already pay most of our bills and even our taxes online. That would have the advantages of voting by mail but be much quicker to count since it would already be in electronic form. And it's important that we know who won as soon as possible after the polls close.
I personally like the experience of going to the polls and casting my ballot. This year I voted by mail because I work from 8 am - 10 pm on Tuesday with very little time out. It was a good experience, but I still like the communal feel of going to the poll.
ReplyDeleteAlso, voting by phone and internet would allow new routes for fraud and may make it harder to double check results. (Though it would likely reduce the errors the first time around.) Unlike paying bills there is no way to make an appeal since the vote is secret and anonymous.