Florida Mail-In Primary Plan Gains Traction

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: LAT/AP

By JOHN DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer
March 9, 2008

WASHINGTON -- A consensus began to emerge Sunday that the best way to give Florida's Democrats a voice in electing a candidate for president lies with the U.S. Postal Service.

The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida and Michigan of all their convention delegates -- a total of 313 -- for holding their primaries too early, making both contests meaningless. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won both states, but no delegates. Her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, did not appear on Michigan's ballot. But the disqualification of Florida and Michigan has created a headache for the Democratic party due to the unexpected closeness of the race between Obama and Clinton. Officials from both states are trying to figure out how best to resolve the issue before the national convention in August.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean said a mail-in primary is "actually a very good process." "Every voter gets a ballot in the mail," the former Vermont governor said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It's comprehensive, you get to vote if you're in Iraq or in a nursing home. It's not a bad way to do this." As for who pays, Dean said, "That is a problem," reiterating that the party needs its money for the general election campaign against Republican John McCain. He also ruled out the state of Florida, where Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has nixed the idea. Dean suggested the state Democratic party might foot the bill. Florida's political parties, unlike the DNC, can accept unlimited contributions.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., supports the mail-in solution, comparing it to an absentee ballot process. He also pinned his hopes on the state party to pay for it. "Since Governor Dean has said he's not going to do it in the DNC, the Florida Democratic Party's going to have to go out and raise the money," he said. "We're looking at about $6 million."...

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top11mar09,0,5495007.story

[pbca]

1. Florida re-vote is off

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080308/NEWS/803080384/1146

[Snarkoleptic]

7. And if the idea is resurrected, the 'pukes will decide the Florida contest.

"Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent said logistically it would be impossible for the county to handle sending 76,000 ballots to all of the county's registered votes and tally them in less than 90 days, while also conducting four other elections between now and May 6."(sic)

If all of the registered voters in each county are permitted to vote in the Dem. primary, the Limbots will be out in force and voting for Hillary. They obeyed their dark master in Ohio and Texas, and will do it again in Florida.

[CoffeeCat]

2. Mail in...............holy hell.

I can only imagine the amount of fraud that would result.

Sickening, bad idea--saturated with the potential for cheating and dirty tricks.

I'm sure Clinton will love this idea.

[papau]

3. I am sure Obama has his xerox at the ready

[Kahuna]

5. You know it. Baaad idea. nt

[hedgehog]

8. Not so fast.....

Vote-by-Mail: The Real Winner Is Democracy

By Bill Bradbury
Saturday, January 1, 2005; Page A23

While many states were embroiled in fights over touch-screen voting machines and provisional ballots and struggling to find enough people to staff polling places, Oregon once again quietly conducted a presidential election with record turnout and little strife.

Oregon's vote-by-mail system has proved reliable and popular. Critics said that vote-by-mail is prone to fraud. But signature verification of every voter before a ballot is counted is an effective safeguard against fraud.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40032-2004Dec31.html

Of course, it's possible that expecting a Florida count to be as clean anone in Oregon may be a little exercise in fantasy....

[better tomorrow]

22. so, if they verify a signature then they know who you voted for, right?

[neverforget]

15. Thanks for sliming my state Oregon.......

[CoffeeCat]

17. I live in Iowa...a caucus state!

I've been slimed seven ways to Sunday, since Hillary Clinton lost our caucus and decided that
caucuses are the spawn of hell.

Hey, I would never slime Oregon. What a wonderful state! I must admit that I did not fully
realize that signatures were required on ballots. If that is true, it sounds like a very
sound process.

Please accept my apologies! I know what it's like to have your entire election system
slimed, and it's not fun.

:)

[neverforget]

19. Apology accepted!

:toast: to 2 great states!

[movonne]

4. I believe it would cost much more then 6M to vote by mail...think of

the printing alone and then the mailing.. and counting and probably many, many more expenses...and where are they going to raise this money...I live in a state that votes by mail and think it is one of the greatest way to vote...we get our ballots about a couple of weeks before the election and get a chance to take our time in voting...also from all i have heard from people counting the votes it is very fair...I wonder why more state don't give it a try..

[keep_it_real]

6. There's room for fraud in mail-ins; they can be destroyed while on route.

It only takes a few supporters of either candidate to do the deed.

[pennylane100]

9. I think I would send my ballot by registered mail.

[swishyfeet]

13. Evidence?

The US Postal Service is a little better established than local elections boards and the only way to defraud the system would be to open up the mail in ballots to find out who was voted for, then throw them away. Can you really imagine that happening?

If the Postal Service is safe enough to send everyone their "stimulus" checks or their Social Security checks (where actual $$ is involved), I'm certain it's safe enough for your vote.

Anyone who doesn't like caucusing because it excludes too many people should LOVE vote by mail. Here in OR we get to sit down with our voter pamphlet and ballot, favorite beverage in hand, and take all the time we need to get it right.

You don't quite get the fun of sitting in the booth, but that's just old fashioned... IMO.

[BadgerLaw2010]

16. That would be a pretty serious felony, per ballot. Life in prison much?

[jpak]

10. Send the bill to Christ and the FL Republic Party

They're responsible for all this...

[better tomorrow]

21. yeah, did you see how much it will cost? They said....

there are 130 million voters? And, at .47 cents per ballot to mail plus the cost of printing, I think it was around 47 million just to do this. And, the feds get the money in the end in postage.

[flashl]

11. Two comments in another post, same discussion

Florida got issues with mail-in ballots

Florida ballot papers go missing
28 October, 2004

Tens of thousands of postal ballots have gone missing in the state of Florida, sparking fresh fears of irregularities in the US poll campaign.

Authorities are investigating the apparent loss of 58,000 absentee forms in Broward County while officials have said replacements are being sent out.

---

Big problem: Florida's constitution prohibits mail-in voting.

[HockeyMom]

12. I voted but will not vote again

It is all to ripe for corruption. If Florida cannot abide by the rules, they don't deserve to have any say. Yes, I know I was and will be disenfranchised. I expected as much when I moved to this state.

[Bitwit1234]

14. Ooooops

Won't be ANY REVOTING AND the votes already cast will be counted. There is an injunction to prevent re-voting. And to count the votes cast. The ACLU has filed..................................

[better tomorrow]

18. don't forget the ballots they lost back when....

some plane lost them in Tallahasee in 2000 I think it was? Darn, I'll have to find the back news.....it was something big if I remember correctly?

[better tomorrow]

20. safeguards

I would make sure that I take my ballot to the PO and drop it in the slot. If people in all black areas (just using this as an example) put them in their mailboxes, there could be a big problem if they take areas and "disqualify them". I'm sure the "nursing home" ballots will get filled in by the staff, too.....no, this is NOT a good idea.....

[BenDavid]

23. this is one stupid idea! We can raise the money. What is it about

30 million? That is easy to do. We could raise that by Wednesday at noon and then make the applications for the vote and set the damn dates in both states for the 3rd or the 10th. Hell, if one goes first then flip a count to see which one goes on the 3rd and then either Florida or Michigan will have the eyes of the world on them and the nominee will come from this.....