Seattle will go ALL MAIL in BALLOT!!!

[Rainscents]

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance, who like other GOP leaders has harshly criticized King County's mistakes in the 2004 general election, issued a statement saying, "Republicans oppose an all-mail ballot system in King County."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/252894_election21.html

Repunlicans don't like it...hehehe What's the matter, it's harder to rigg the votes? :nopity:

[Jade Fox]

1. Vance is an unspeakable creep. If he doesn't like it, it must be good

[raysr]

2. If they don't like

it, it's got to be good!

[MrModerate]

3. Love it. Paper ballots -- try to get your effing tabulator . . .

To flip THOSE votes to the 'Lican contender.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. But how can you be sure that whoever opens the mail.......

is counting all of the votes?

Who IS counting the votes?

[0rganism]

12. How can you ever be sure?

The tabulators are running the same ES&S/GEMS crap as elsewhere in the country, of course, but at the very least, you get a guaranteed paper trail with all-absentee voting.

[MrModerate]

15. Too many people to spoof a result convincingly

One BBV manufacturer's rep can change a tabulator's total while sitting at his local Starbuck's; 200 city workers counting slips of paper are effectively impossible to spoof.

And if the numbers are phony the first time (having been spoofed), you can recount.

[Little Star]

4. Good on Seattle! n/t

[stevedeshazer]

6. Congratulations, Neighbors

It works for us. :)

Sincerely,

Oregon

[Viva_La_Revolution]

23. Ditto

:)

[kster]

7. How are they going to count them ballots? ....nt

[oregonjen]

8. Oregon does this and it is quite successful

[wakeme2008]

9. And fast...

:)

More ppl vote as I recall too.

[OregonBlue]

10. Congratulations! Now for the rest of the state!

[Tom Joad]

11. I don't like it either, and i sure ain't a republican

I worked as a volunteer in a special election for a candidate in an all mail-in ballot. It was a special election, city councilperson resigned his seat, and the vote was just for the replacement. Harder to get low-income people to vote. This is not a good idea.

[0rganism]

13. Oregon voting participation went up about 25%, IIRC

There are some advantages, such as an extended voting cycle. Makes it easier for working people to vote.

[oregonjen]

14. At least if the ballot gets delivered to their mail box,

it will be in their hands. It's sure better than getting them to a polling place to wait in line, possibly causing them hardship with work schedules.

Edited to add: Not to mention, the voter's pamphlet can be quite thick. It's really nice to sit down at the table, when it is quiet and study each measure and candidate and then vote. I like being able to do that in the warmth of my own home.

[MissB]

16. Oregon has been vote-by-mail for years

There are drop boxes all over town so that people don't have to use a stamp if they don't want. Public libraries usually have drop boxes, as do county offices and some hardware stores.

Vote-by-mail has increased the voter participation in Oregon, which is why Republicans don't like it.

[Rainscents]

19. I'd been voting absentee for 10 years and I love it!!!

With absentee, you can check and see, your vote was counted online!

[Cronus Protagonist]

22. The ballots should be marked NO POSTAGE NEEDED

And if they still can't do it, they wouldn't have voted in a polling place anyway. Personally, I don't want to walk into a church to vote, so I'm all for it for that reason and the unfixability of paper ballots.

Educate a Freeper Today!
Buttons, Stickers and Fridge Magnets for Brainy People
http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[AntiCoup2K4]

17. Here in Thurston County we have been doing mail only primaries for a while

Used to be on good old punch card ballots. This last election they changed to optical scan. Which means it's a paper ballot, but the results still go to a not exactly secure database.

Not sure what Chris Dunce is bitching about, but then since when did he ever need an excuse?

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Haha yep

Of course they wouldn't like it. Watcha trying to hide eh? Ha! Very telling isn't it??

[Johnyawl]

20. IT'S NOT SEATTLE THAT'S DOING THIS!!!!

It's KING COUNTY!! Yes, that includes Seattle, BUT IT INCLUDES ABOUT A MILLION OTHER PEOPLE ALSO!


Those of us in the rest of the county get damned tired of the rest of the world assuming there's nothing in this county but the City of Seattle. AND the article actually says "KING COUNTY...." How hard would it have been to get it right?



You can now return to your regularly scheduled program of misinformation.

[Rainscents]

21. Yes, you're right! I should had said, King County that include Seattle.

[BlueIris]

24. Alright! We love this system down in OR.

Highest voter participation rate of any state last time. Yay!

[RobertSeattle]

25. Good - been a WA permanent absentee voter for 10 years

Literally hundreds of billions of dollars are transacted via the US Mail each month - I don't know why we can't do ballots as well.

[Pachamama]

26. Oregon has done this and its gone quite well according to all my family

and friends there.

[RazzleDazzle]

27. It's a feint. It's easier -- don't be celebrating all mail-in ballots

They can't be counted if they're not found...if they get "lost" in the mail, dumped in the trash, pushed into the janitor's closet, burned in someone's home fireplace, shredded, thrown into Puget Sound or one of those lovely lakes up there, and so forth.

They are difficult to impossible to secure. AND, if they're counted on optical scanners, they are going to be subject to the very same problems touchscreen voting machines are.

I don't understand what you're so happy about.

[Rainscents]

29. Hell of lot better than Diebold. You get the receipt and one can check

and see, their vote been counted.

[SoCalDem]

28. Registered mail or certified would be the way to go,..

No denying that your ballot at least made it to its destination..and you have a record of it.. You could even go one step further and photocopy before you mail it in..