This blog, June 22:
The original pressure [for King County to switch to mail-only voting] reportedly came from Maria Cantwell. She is said to be "very concerned" about mail-only voting in the rest of the state, believing that if people in Republican-leaning counties get ballots sent to them they will be more likely to vote, and she wants King County voters to have ballots sent to them too.The P-I, November 2:
The Cantwell strategist acknowledged that ... since all-mail voting produces a higher turnout, "it would help us if King County were to vote by mail."Of course back in June the Democrats on the King County Council vigorously denied they had any partisan motivation for forcing everybody to vote by mail.
They want King County to vote entirely by mail because other counties do. Better if none did.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 02, 2006 08:43 AM | Email ThisWhat is ludicrous are the "news" stories going on right now about the "increase" in mail balloting, as if it was a "choice" made by the voters.
The Snohomish County council forced the whole county into all mail balloting. Those of us that wanted "choice" were not given "choice".
There are online polls asking, "Will you be voting absentee?". They'll get 99.99% "Yes" response from SnoCo voters.
Unlike voting in polls where you put your ballot in a scanner and it accepts or rejects it, in the current voting method, there are only two things I will "know" about my ballot:
1. They received it.
2. I did not receive notification of a problem with my signature.
I will never know whether my ballot was actually counted or my votes were actually tallied due to some error I may have made, or if the intent of my vote ended up being divined by someone that doesn't know me.
My preference? Polling places where you show ID and sign the poll book. Polling places that have ballot scanners that tell you if you've done something improper on your ballot before it goes into the "anonymous ballot universe".
We must always have a level of trust in the government that they will handle our votes properly, I would just like to have as few steps as possible to have to trust them on.
Posted by: SouthernRoots on November 2, 2006 09:18 AM"Vote-by-mail is a bad idea," said Curtis Gans, director of American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate. "It doesn't help turnout. It can lead to fraud."
To which Oregonians add "no duh."
Oh but there's more. Now Oregon is "leading the nation" [a statewide preoccupation]in VOTE BY PHONE. Expect Fraudularity to Ensue. Here are the deets: http://victoriataftkpam.blogspot.com/2006/10/vote-by-phone-expanded-in-oregon.html
Posted by: Victoria Taft 5-8pm AM 860 KPAM THE TALK STATION on November 2, 2006 09:21 AMI did not receive an absentee ballot for the Nov 2006 election
Cantwell plays fast and lose
Posted by: Green Lake Mark on November 2, 2006 11:29 AMGuppy did you get down to Florida, and keep that thing from voting in the wrong area?
Let's get her disefranchised, because she broke the law. She should never be able to vote again.
I think that's the law Jeb Bush passed down there. No Ex felons can ever vote again, nice way to bring them back into soceity.
Do you guys do ANYTHING that is good for the whole country?
Posted by: danw on November 2, 2006 11:42 AMThe commissioners in my county claimed it cost 750,000 per election and less than 50% of the voters voted at the polls. YET, they have no trouble at all rubber stamping "EMERGENCY" elections in the spring or fall for tax increases for schools or municipalities knowing full well the turnout will be low enough union members and affected beneficiaries can sway the outcome.
Posted by: Robert on November 2, 2006 11:49 AMIn Florida, that is not okay, but in DeanRon land, it is okay. Another Jimy Hatloe moment.
Posted by: swatter on November 2, 2006 12:39 PMMissouri ACORN Workers Indicted, 35,000 Questionable Forms
Posted by: starboardhelm on November 2, 2006 12:49 PMNovember 01, 2006
One Seattle voter, two elections, four ballots
The Seattle area is still having trouble running glitch-free elections -- at least if this experience is an indication.
Before the primary election in September I received two ballots, one each at both my current and old addresses. The ballot at my current address included instructions to ignore the extra one. It seemed a sign that King County's well-publicized problems holding a vote had been fixed.
Then, this week, I received two ballots for the general election, at the same two addresses. But now the current and old addresses were switched, with the ballot at the old address instructing me to ignore the one sent to my correct address. I also received two new voter-registration cards with wrong information. When I called the elections department to correct the error, I was told that someone had switched my information again, and they have no record of my current address -- just the old one.
Mistakes can always happen and surely the people at the elections department are doing their best. Regardless, it seems we need to brace for more reports of election mix-ups that may mar the outcome of close races.
Posted by: G Jiggy on November 2, 2006 01:00 PMCheck out this article, because it looks like Washington State is the last state in the Union that reports final absentee numbers. Wow! You thought it was bad when Gregiore and Rossi fought it out. Imagine when the whole country hinges on Washington State. It could happen.... heck, it could happen in the Darcy Burner/Reichert race.
Stefan (and conservatives in general) are in favor of suppressing illegal voters. Not independent voters, not even Dhimmicrat voters. Just ILLEGAL voters.
Pull your head out...
Posted by: alphabet soup on November 2, 2006 02:17 PMI'm feeling nervous about provisional voting. It just occurred to me that if the Dems bus hundreds or thousands from a safe district like McDermott's to go vote in the 8th as a provisional, does this mean Burner could get elected because of provisional balloting? The thought of that happening scares the crap out of me. Please, someone tell me that isn't possible in provisional voting!!!
Posted by: ferrous on November 3, 2006 07:49 AM