February 08, 2006
Sims advances All-Mail voting
Ron Sims press event this morning:
King County Executive Ron Sims will update the press on the county's plan to transition to all-mail balloting. Copies of a report to the Executive from Records and Elections Director Dean Logan outlining and analyzing possible transition plans will be released to members of the press at the event.
Wed., Feb. 8, 2006
9:30 a.m.
Executive Conference Room, 32nd Floor
Columbia Center
701 Fifth Avenue
Seattle
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at February 08, 2006
09:00 AM | Email This
1. We should actually push for _ALL_ mail balloting. That is, all the _school_levies_ and other ticky-tack elections that we don't necessarily even hear about. I hate 'all mail balloting' for the main elections - but if we're going to have this shoved down our throat, push the other darn way. They might get more than 14 voters... and that might be shocking.
(I personally think we should restrict 'Elections' to one per year, max, 'Primary Elections' to one per year max. And a 'Special Election' would require something substantive to initiate.)
2. Bye Bye King county and Washington Democracy...Oooops, I guess we lost that a few years ago.
3. Is Sims going to title his speech "Kiss Honest Elections Goodbye" or "Creation of Cook County West"? We can go to all mail balloting when Sims and gang show they can count. Until then I wouldn't trust these clowns with anything.
4. well, hooray. The stench of dead people voting at the polling places was getting to be unbearable. Now they can vote from the grave by mail. Neat.
5. Burdabee, come on, you can trust these clowns, I do. I trust they will be dishonest and incompetent. I trust they will cheat and steal elections. I trust they will break the law when it suits them. I trust they will raise my taxes. And, I trust they will take my property (CAO).
6. http://www.cascadecounty.kendra.com/default.htm
I am in for cascade county. I can't wait until this comes up for a vote.
7. sure it worked for him!!!
8. I could be for or against Cascade County. It depends on the boundaries. There is also going to have to be plenty of information regarding its effect on taxes, services, etc. before I will be on board.
9. As I've mentioned before and has been documented elsewhere.
In the 2004 election recount the majority of problems with the ballot counting was centered around mail-in ballots; other than the provisional ballots, that is which is another kettle of fish.
From what I personally saw King County does not have a uniform policy about how to count these ballots and what to do when there are questions with an improperly filled out ballot. I'm not sure if this has changed in the 14 months since.
Furthermore it seems like the election department chooses to believe that no problems exist and there's no need to change anything.
If our election system were run with 100 percent efficiency, then I might be made to agree that mail-in voting would be a good idea. Unfortunately it is still not. So we should make an effort to maintain poll voting (imperfect as it is) where there is at least some guarantee that proper voting procedures are maintained.
10. Off topic as it is...
Cascade County, or whatever you wish to call it, will only work if you get Bellevue to hop on board.
Also, I hope whoever does push the idea is more reputable than the completely whacko group of sucessionists up in Snohomish County who had a similar movement in the 1990's. Not to be judgemental but the saying "crazy as an outhouse rat" comes to mind.
Personally I'm opposed to any such movement since it detracts from any effort to effect change from within and by getting good people in office. The only benefit is that it would put the fear of Gaia into the Seattle-based powerstructure.
11. Just because King County does it--doesn't mean the technology itself is bad. It increases participation of the legitimate voters too. We just need to keep pressure up to make elections more accurate and keep non-legitimate voters from voting.
Reed's centralized database (copied here....thanks Stephan) was an excellent start. We're going to see lots come out of that I think.
Don't shun the method. Hold it accountable to the highest standard.
12. I live in Bellevue and support the idea of Cascade County, but like Palouse said, I would need more information. The devil's in the details.
I'm a PAV, and I combine both methodologies. I get my ballot in the mail, and take the envelope to the polling place. That way I don't have to worry about the USPS screwing up. Of course that doesn't mean that mandatory absentee voting is necessarily a good idea.
13. Its time to create Cascade County and get out of the reeking bilge of King County. If you can't beat them, secede from them !
14. My new favorite Democratic Larry Philips, has been sending me E-Mails about all-mail voting updates told me about this event. We need to speak out on the issue. Every one knows my story by now. So I will fight it tooth and nail.
Also we need to divide up king county. We are too Seattle centric. Rural areas get the shaft with this County Goverment.
15. We USED to have a secret ballot in the USA, and thought that was pretty nifty. Now, with mail voting, secrecy is gone. There is no protection for weak people who might be compelled by their parent/child/employer/union agent to mark their ballot in the presence of the parent/child/employer/union agent. For that matter, there is no protection to make sure that people won't have their ballots marked by someone else before they even get them, as I have been told (by a former elected official who was the beneficiary thereof) happens in old folks' homes, and what are you going to do about it, old man?
Those voting by mail ballot should be required to present themselves before a notary, offer proof of identity, show that the ballot is unmarked, retire alone to a nearby private area, mark their ballot, seal it in the envelope, and return to have the flap of the envelope embossed with the notary's seal and signed by voter and notary. That's the way the non-naive states do it.
16. I believe "All mail voting" goes against our state constitution....
17. I still feel that we should all register to vote using Ron “tax to the max” Sims home address...we could save a bundle in bulk mail rates!!!