A question for Oregonians on the mail-in ballot:

[flor de jasmim]

I decided to tune into Hillary's town hall and there is a young woman asking people to make calls to their neighbors. They are to ask whether the person will be supporting Hillary and then speak of mailing out the ballots to them.

So my question is this: I always assumed that the ballots would be sent from the state govt offices, with NO intervention at all from the candidates. Is that not right?

[FightingIrish]

1. They are mailed by the county clerks

In past elections, campaigns keep track of who has not yet mailed in their ballots and encourage them to do so.

[ORDem]

2. Yes, you have it correct. All Oregon elections are mail-in ballots.

Although, the ballots are mailed out from county election offices, not directly from the state.

They could mail out registration forms to folks, but they can't do that based on candidate preference. Maybe that's what they're talking about?

Also, having lived with the mail-in system for many years I can't for the life of me understand why it's not more widespread. Oregon has enjoy consistently higher turnout numbers since it adopted this system. For a while they used those punchcards, which were a nightmare, but now they are optically scanned ballots.

:dem:

[pdxmom]

5. I'm with you! I love the mail-in system. It's so much easier and

convenient. And it certainly has provided us with a higher turnout.

[movonne]

9. I agree with you..I love it....it gives you time to do research on the

different Props,etc..

[pdxmom]

11. And having that Voter's Guide in hand while you're voting really helps

as well. With all of the initiatives, I like having time to make sure the research is done and that I'm making the right choice and reading the proposal correctly, without having to worry that there are people in line behind me, waiting to make their choices.

[ORDem]

19. Do you remember when they were still mailing out punch cards?

God that was hideous. You had to hold the ballot in one hand and try to map your choice to the correct chad (and try to figure out if the tiny number was above or below the chad of your choice) and use whatever utensil was handy to punch it out. It had so much potential for error. I was trying to imagine how someone with shaky hands and poor eyesight could manage it. Fortunately, the 2000 FL fiasco put an end to that!

:dem:

[pdxmom]

20. Yup. That wasn't great, but at least they reminded you to make

sure the tab was completely punched out. I would diligently remove every one of those hanging chads.

[Arugula Latte]

32. Not to mention, we can all vote nekkid!

:woohoo:

[pdxmom]

3. County sends out the ballots. No intervention from the candidates,

but there are often calls from candidates telling you that ballots are being mailed, please be sure to watch for yours, etc.

[MediaBabe]

4. Political parties have nothing to do with the actual ballots

Sounds like someone just phrased it in a confusing manner.

[FightingIrish]

6. While we are on the topic

I have never heard a fellow Oregonian complain about this system. It works for everybody no matter where they live, what the weather is or what state their health is in. We vote as a family sitting around the dining room table and discussing our votes. If we have questions on a ballot measure, we have the opportunity to research it before we vote. With all the concern about electronic voting, this low tech solution is a no brainer that other states should consider.

[L. Coyote]

13. Of course, there is no real means to control fraud with mail in voting.

There is no way for election officials to know, with certainty, who casts the votes.

[FightingIrish]

14. They check the signatures on the ballot against signatures

on file with the county clerk.

[L. Coyote]

16. So, who witnessed the first signature?

And the "but, no mass fraud" argument in another reply doesn't cut it.
It only takes a small percentage to overthrow almost any election.

[bhikkhu]

22. The county clerk witnessed my signature

[L. Coyote]

25. Yeah, and Reagan told good antedocts too, and they prove nothing.

[bhikkhu]

26. I don't get it.

The paper trail is complete and verifiable from one end to the other. I haven't heard yet how this system is fraud-prone.

[MediaBabe]

15. Mass fraud would be impossible

Maybe one person could wrongfully influence a family member but it would be impossible for mass fraud to occur.

Each ballot has a plain cover envelope in which the ballot is sealed. Then this is placed into the mailing envelope which must be signed by the voter. These signatures are hand matched with the signature on record with the county. If the signature does not match the outer envelope is never opened but placed in a separate file. There it is easily found and discarded if the voter complains (in person at the elections office right up til election day) that he/she did not recieve their ballot in the mail. Voter fraud is simply not feasable.

[leftstreet]

7. Reminder! If you've missed 2 fed elections, you won't get a ballot in the mail

If you know people who haven't voted in awhile, remind them they'll need to re-register.

[bhikkhu]

10. Updated my registration the other day.

It took about 5 minutes at the county clerk's office.

It really is a nice system. The ballots for the primary and then the GE will come in the mail and no stress or worry, no time off work or lines.

[flor de jasmim]

8. Thanks y'all... it DOES sound like a much better system than most.

[L. Coyote]

17. If you don't mind fraud in your elections.

[ORDem]

18. You'll have to tell us how there could be fraud. Evidence?

I'm betting you don't live here nor have much experience with the system.

[L. Coyote]

23. I live in OR. I know the system. There are no controls over who cast the ballot

except the signature. So, unless handwriting experts are reviewing every ballot ......... it is that simple.

Oregon is being totally naive in thinking this is a good way to run an election. It only works if everyone is honest.

It is the equivalent of an honor system in politics! :rofl:

[davepdx]

27. Can you cite any examples of where what you fear

has actually happened?

You are indicating the coercion is a problem. Evidence indicates that coercion does not appear to be a problem. This article indicates that in-person polling places have a real problem with coercion. There have been many cases where ethnic groups have been intimidated by aggressive challenges or outright harassment at polls. The link above seems to be intermittent. http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:XGEhqh1QpCMJ:www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp%3Fc%3DdkLNK1MQIwG%26b%3D3790039+Bill+Bradbury+%22Vote+by+Mail+Guide%22+%22Oregon+Secretary+of+State%22+October,+2000.&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&lr=lang_en">Here's the google cache of that webpage.

If anyone has the slightest fear of coercion (from an abusive spouse or boss for example) they can prevent it by designating on their registration form that the ballot be sent to a place where the person would feel safe and free from coercion. If someone tries to interfere with your vote you can destroy the ballot. You can then go to the county clerk and report your action, receive a new ballot and vote again without any fear of coercion.

[ORDem]

31. Ridiculous. You'd have to have quite a few expert forgers to make any kind of dent in election

results that way. Also, how are the forgers going to get their hands on the envelopes with the bar codes that are delivered by U.S. postal mail? Give me a break.

[pdxmom]

21. Please provide any facts/statistics to back that up. I know first-hand how

diligent they are. My son had his last ballot returned, because he'd had a hand injury and had to sign his ballot with the wrong hand. Obviously, that signature didn't match his registration, so he had to prove he was who he said he was, provide an explanation for the change in his signature and reregister so he had a clean registration. It was a pain to do, but it showed me the county/state are very conscientious about maintaining the integrity of the system.

[L. Coyote]

24. Nothing you say here means the sytem cannot be gamed by those who wish to.

Who needs facts and statistics when you have a visible flaw.

Besides, when one has the facts and statistics, it makes no difference anyway!

[leftstreet]

28. Fraud = Doubtful. Disenfranchisement? Highly Probable

Inactive voter lists, and no polling places on election day other than scant provisional ballot offices. People who don't vote regularly, people who move often, people without permanent addresses, etc. all can be easily disenfranchised.

[MediaBabe]

29. No system is perfect

I think the mail in voting has fewer flaws than in person voting. There is no chance of voter intimidation by, oh say - local police deciding to have heavy police patrols in the vicinity of the polling places in minority neighborhoods. That is a serious problem in some areas. Then in 2004 there was a lot of problems with voting machines malfunctioning or not having enough machines for the number of voters registered in minority areas.

I'm sure you know of all the disenfranchising issues that came up these past two presidential elections. Most of them are simply nonexistent with mail in balloting.

[OutNow]

12. One More Positive for Oregon

I moved to Oregon last year after 25 years in Texas. My wife is from the northwest, but it's all new to me. Mail-in voting is just one more thing that makes me so grateful to live here.

Even better than the mail-in voting is that I get to vote for a great member of Congress, Pete DeFazio. In Texas I was in John Carter's district in suburban Austin and had about 0% chance of voting for a winning Democrat.

No sales tax (sales tax is regressive) and an income tax (which is progressive) and a citizen run utility company that encourages conservation by providing a no interest loan for my new heat pump. Sweet!

I know that long time residents don't always recognize the benefits of this wonderful place, but after living in W-land I feel blessed.

Well, I'm off to Saturday Market in Eugene.

PS. And you don't have to leave the state to visit a casino!

[DeschutesRiver]

30. Where there are ballots cast, fraud is always a concern

there are so many recorded instances throughout our elections history nationally of all the ways that people scam voting results. I hardly give a thought to the mail in ballot as being a huge generator of fraud - most other systems seem to end up in trouble way more than ours here in Oregon does.

Seems like in some other states, I see elections held and people screaming about the fraud that occurred - like, say the Gore deal, where was that, FLORIDA? I have participated in and seen plenty of election results by mail in ballot here in Oregon, and I can't recall us Oregonians ever feeling like the result wasn't pretty much as we'd expected it to be (no matter what side of the issue you are on here, you can get a feel for how it is gonna go down).

If there ever is a 100% fraud proof voting system devised, that is when I will champion it instead of mail in ballots.