what if we had verifiable vote by mail for everyone?

[restorefreedom]

everyone gets a ballot and mails it in between dates x and y. the votes are tallied/scanned and put online. you enter a ss# or drivers license number or something private and it says online :"we received your vote. you were voter number x and you voted for .....name..." that way everyone can confirm that their vote was received, counted and not flipped.

there could be polls available on vote day in case anyone forgot to send it in. you would have a choice to vote at a machine or fill out a ballot and hand it in. this would also be useful drop off points for people who are financially strapped and can't pay the postage..they could do a drop off.

all votes counted and verified, no long lines, no issues of access for the disabled, no games.

one person, one vote. and it might even turn out to be cheaper.

win win, yes?

[Trust Buster]

1. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

[Gwhittey]

5. So caucuses are better then?

That really is the true form of voting our Founding Fathers thought it was going to be like.

[Trust Buster]

15. Not in my mind. Caucuses represent the other extreme. They're too exclusive IMO.

[cannabis_flower]

26. How

would that make it a spectator sport?

[Trust Buster]

29. I think voters should at least be invested enough to go to a polling location. I can see

exemptions for seniors and the disabled.

[cannabis_flower]

33. Why?

This would level the playing field for everyone. If you can't go, if you can go but have no internet access. If you are working your ass off and don't have time. If you are caring for children or sick relatives. If you have a long commute. Your comment sounds really elitist. You sound like someone who wants to suppress votes.

[Trust Buster]

39. I think it shows a lack of commitment and would be rife with fraud.

[HassleCat]

42. Rife with fraud

I guess we need more voter ID laws. To stop all that rifeness.

[cannabis_flower]

46. Tell that to

people who used a voting machine and saw their votes flip!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

48. wrong-we have less problems with voting than most of the country

If you recall, in 2012 a repug election worker got caught messing with a few ballots.. Caught on tape no less. If you mail it or drop it in a secured box no one can tamper with it. The only thing wrong here is counting by machine.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

52. Sounds like the reason the GOP would oppose it, any reason to oppose more voting.

[winetourdriver]

2. Vote by Mail

Vote by mail works well here in California, the most populous state in the Union. If it can work here, etc...

[Gwhittey]

3. vote by mail

is the actual way to do voter fraud easier. Too easy to be dishonest. We just need to treat our voting like we do in countries we monitor for fair elections

[fun n serious]

6. Not true.

Much much less dissenfrancment and fraud

[Wilms]

11. And you base that on what??

[fun n serious]

14. On this.

Oregonians have many good reasons to be proud of our election system.

Our voter turnout is among the highest in the country. Our vote-by-mail system is admired throughout the United States and around the world. It's convenient and enjoys wide popular support in the state. Most importantly, it's secure.

Despite these successes, I hear concerns about the safety of our system. Some people still fear that it's rife with fraud, including illegal immigrants registering and voting or thousands of deceased Oregonians still on the voter rolls and receiving ballots.

I listen carefully to these concerns, but the fact of the matter is they're wrong. Fraud is extremely rare in Oregon, and when it happens we take it very seriously. Oregonians have cast more than 15 million ballots by mail since 2000. In that time we have investigated thousands of fraud complaints, including examples of those mentioned above.

Those thousands of investigations resulted in nine prosecutions. We've issued fines and jail terms and seen deportations. But nine prosecutions out of thousands of investigations tells us we're not looking at systemic voter fraud. Most complaints are well-intentioned but unfounded.

There are reasons why such fraud is so rare. For starters, our county clerks and their staffs on the front lines of the effort work hard every day to make sure voter rolls are clean, accurate and secure. We have a rigorous signature verification system to ensure only legally eligible voters cast a ballot, and our election teams are trained by forensics experts.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/04/vote_fraud_is_extremely_rare_a.html

[Wilms]

19. That's a referrence to VOTER fraud.

Now, what about ELECTION fraud?

Did someone stand over you when you filled the ballot out?

[fun n serious]

22. No.

Why would they? Good grief. All data says it works better than any method currently available if you still worry than NOTHING is good enough for you

[Wilms]

24. Why would they, you ask?

We need a straight-face smilie.

And what about your boss?

[Lizzie Poppet]

13. In nearly 20 years of exclusively vote-by-mail here in Oregon, only nine fraud convictions...

...in over 15 million ballots worth of voting.

[noamnety]

37. Are you suggesting people who can't get to the polls

shouldn't be allowed to vote?

[fun n serious]

4. Our vote by mail works excellent.

I have seen people here say they would never vote by mail due to fraud but I have to say we do NOT have fraud issues with it.

Our ballots come to us pre printed with our voter ID number and our name.

[LWolf]

7. We already have that.

In my state.

I love it. I'd hate to think about having to go to a polling place to vote again.

We all get our ballots in the mail a couple of weeks before election day. That gives us time to browse through the voter pamphlet, do some research, and make decisions while in comfy pajamas with a nice hot cup of coffee. We mail it in. If we don't mail it in time, there are drop boxes around town. No lines, no waits, just walk up and drop it in.

It's a great way to vote.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. It would be much more democratic.

[restorefreedom]

18. and there's the rub.....nt

[Fla Dem]

54. Not necessairily.

For those with a computer and internet access it would be great. But what about the poor and disenfranchised. As hard as it to believe, many people do not have the luxury of being connected.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

55. What has that to do with voting by mail?

[Fla Dem]

56. The OP suggested a verification message would be sent to the registered voter online.

"the votes are tallied/scanned and put online. you enter a ss# or drivers license number or something private and it says online :"we received your vote. you were voter number x and you voted for .....name..." that way everyone can confirm that their vote was received, counted and not flipped."

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

57. That was for verification of a mail in vote, not the vote itself.

Like package tracking on line.

We have mail in voting in my state. I doubt they have individual voter verification online. Nor do I care.

[Lizzie Poppet]

9. It's all we've had here in Oregon since '98.

I can't imagine going back...

Voter turnout is among the best in the country, only nine confirmed incidents of fraud on over 15 million ballots, and I'm convinced people vote with greater care and accuracy. It's just better.

[brooklynite]

10. ...and, you can just hand the ballot to your boss or Union Chief to fill out and mail?

[Wilms]

12. +1. Or your spouse or caregiver.

That's one of the BIG downsides.

[fun n serious]

17. If you can't trust your spouse ...

who can you trust?

[Wilms]

20. 50% of marriages end in divorce.

And who knows how many of the remaining marriages are worth the cost of the license.

There's PLENTY of trust issues going around.

[fun n serious]

23. You're too much. nt

[Wilms]

25. OK, then. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

38. Your candidate spent YEARS claiming marriage is a super holy and sacred God made thing which had

to be defended against the terrible gays. Yet today your position is that marriages are mostly about control and coercion and you leave Hillary's faith and all her talk about marriage being exactly the same since God made Adam and Eve and all that.

Folks who will say anything will also do anything.

[Wilms]

47. I have said nothing of the sort.

And I have to wonder if you're responding to someone else.

First off, my candidate is not Clinton.

Nor did I say "marriages are mostly about control and coercion". You, ah, made that up.

So I'll repeat just in case. One of the ideas against mail-in voting is the possibility of coercion from a spouse, a caregiver or a boss, and I will add, among others.

Hope that's clear.

[winetourdriver]

16. What?

That made no sense at all, none.

[pdxmom]

21. Only if they're very good at forgery. You must sign your

ballot envelope. How do I know that actually works and those checks are made? My son had broken his right hand, and had to sign his ballot with his left. He received a letter saying that his vote was provisional until he was able to prove that it was actually his signature, because it didn't match his registration, and that if he couldn't, basically that he would be prosecuted for fraud. He could prove it, and everything was fine. So yes, there are multiple ways that the system is protected.

[Bluenorthwest]

34. They are signed and numbered. Plus your theory that Union 'Chiefs' do that sort of thing requires

some sort of support
You bristle when your own household income streams are suggested to be dubious or corrupt. Yet you casually say the same about entire classes of people. Double Standards- the building blocks of discrimination.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

36. Or that nice man who came by the nursing home.

[BernieforPres2016]

27. If the confirmation of your vote is online

I don't see why the original vote couldn't be online, as an alternative to sending your vote in by mail. We can sign up for healthcare online, file our income tax returns online, why not vote online?

Also, I think the federal and state governments should use various databases (Social Security, IRS, healthcare, DMV, etc.) to automatically register people to vote.

Of course, Republicans will fight anything that would increase voter participation by every means possible.

[fun n serious]

30. Our state already does.

You can register to vote or update your info at DMV, Social Security office.. almost any state agency. You can not be "automatically" registered that is a violation of your rights. Besides, you have to choose a party

[virtualobserver]

28. what if the person who buried me in the back yard and is collecting my social security.....

isn't a progressive and votes for the wrong person in my name?

[fun n serious]

31. That was probably 1 of the 2

in 15 million...

[Gregorian]

32. Here is what the next thing is going to be. (placeavote)

Just watched the interview with the developer and ceo. Great stuff. I think this is going to be our future of voting. It's block chain technology, which means it's secure. No one can go around changing votes without being detected and rejected.

http://placeavote.com/

It's about to go live, even though it has already been in use.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

50. just signed up! thx!

[Bluenorthwest]

35. Then you could all be like Oregon, with healthy turnout and progressive laws.

Every home a polling place, every sofa a voting booth.

[Lizzie Poppet]

41. Our state motto should be "Pay attention: we're good at stuff."

Addendum: "But FFS, don't move here! It's gotten crowded enough."

[unapatriciated]

49. Sorry it is going to get a little more crowded

Hubby, myself and my son are moving to Oregon. We plan to be there by summer., so make room.

[randome]

40. A fingerprint/blood/DNA scanner in every home. It's the only way to be sure.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[restorefreedom]

43. i would not be surprised to see

fingerprint recognizing technology (or retinas) available soon on every pc

but i think the oregon system looks to be the best so far.

[Baobab]

44. I woud rather just see them ALWAYS put election day on a holiday and use clear

ballot boxes with optically scannable human readable paper ballots. here is an idea to make it easier. Canada uses the same system for the whole country and its very simple, the only computers invlved are used to scan them.

now ee have $35 basic RaspberryPi computers, very simple optical systems and very simple off the shelf software and scanners should be used to prevent hacking. Have the code be so simple a ten year old could read it.

No more proprietary, insecure touch screen voting machines.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

45. we do it here in Oregon, and it's awesome!

[astrophuss42]

51. I'm in full support. eom

[Jake2413]

53. I in....

Have always liked the vote by mail system. No excuse to not vote. But the least we should have is Election Day off to vote and a maximum number of voters per voting location set by law to eliminate the long waiting time.