- Evidence suggests the public is too dumb to vote by mail.
Voting by mail seems like an easy enough task: Fill out a ballot correctly, place said ballot in an envelope, and then put it in the mail.
We are, however, dealing with people, and when you’re dealing with people, bad things happen. People are idiots.
Take the process above. How many different steps can the normal person screw up? They could fill out the ballot incorrectly. They could forget to put a stamp on the envelope. They could forget to sign the ballot. There are literally endless opportunities for the public’s general incompetence to come shining through. Usually, the public only needs one, but it’s good to have options.
These gaffes and many more are plaguing Ohio as voting by mail becomes more popular. According to the AP, people even forget to include the ballot in the envelope when mailing it. Seriously. It’s any wonder people can walk from their front door to their mailbox without getting lost.
Elections officials in major Ohio counties say a surge in people voting by mail has been accompanied by a rise in ballot errors that cost time and money.
More than 6,000 voters in the county that includes Cleveland made mistakes with mail-in ballots for the May primary. Some left off necessary signatures or information, while nearly 100 even forgot to include their ballot in the envelope.
Cuyahoga County elections workers try to fix errors so votes can be counted, and the process can be costly. Officials are already urging that mail-in ballot instructions be followed carefully for the November election.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2010.
Yes, vote by mail and be careful. I walked my ballot into the BOE to be sure. In fact, I showed it to Jane Platten to be sure. You see, I was switching parties, and I wanted to be sure my vote was properly counted and my party affiliation was recorded. Here’s what I learned. You must seal the envelope with the filled in ballot in it. You must fill out everything on the front of the envelope, name, date signature, identifier (last 4 SS#, drivers license, etc. one of those 3 options) , but you don’t have to know what kind of election this is. I think we know that this is not the general election. But is it a primary or a special election? Turns out it’s both. Also turns out they “don’t look at that section” despite all the warnings.
If you’re switching as I was (I’m now a member of the Green Party), you will have had to request a green party ballot. There is also a form that you must fill out to confirm that you mean to switch parties. DON’T put it inside the ballot envelope! Poll workers cannot open that ballot envelope and they file that party switch paper elsewhere.
If you want to vote green, you can do so in the primary at any polling location. Don’t let them tell you they don’t have green ballots – they do. Jane Platten assured me they will. If they say they don’t ask the poll worker to call the BOE. Have fun with this new more open democratic process. This is how we change the game.