Posted on 02/21/2005 2:54:12 PM PST by Splatter
In the aftermath of the closest, most chaotic governor's race in state history, Democrats are pushing a package of changes that includes moving the primary to an earlier date and shifting the state toward a system in which all votes would be cast by mail.
The bills have broad support among Democrats, who control both the House and Senate, but Republicans say they're not enough.
"We're not opposed to the stuff that's coming out. We just feel there should be a lot more," said Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, the Senate minority leader. "We want to fix the problem and not just say we passed a bill."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
The proponents of this want you to believe any problems are "rumors" and there is "no proof" of vote-by-mail fraud. Hey! Now thats two words that go together. Mail. Fraud. Mail Fraud. But that would never happen during an election, right Mr. Reed?
Imagine the problems vote-by-mail could solve!
Close elections can be calculated weeks ahead of time. No more "mystery ballots". An exact number could eliminate those pesky re-re-counts.
Signatures can be checked/verified/tossed before election day.
Any "irregularities" can be corrected ahead of time. No more waiting for while we decide the voters intent. We have time to fix the ballots.
Paper trails will show who voted for whom. No more pesky "secret" ballots.
If a candidate is found to have committed a "digression", he/she will not be unduly penalized come election day. They already have your vote.
Oregon uses Vote-By-Mail and their Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury -D, said "The reality is, you won't find a more fraud-free system than the one we operate."
The three keywords in this statement are, "you won't find".
BTW.. The search engine indexes have been flooded with Pro Vote-by-Mail-Fraud articles. You will see the same names and articles, ten pages deep. They love to cite "rumors and unprovable concerns from critics".
Think for yourself. What is more important? The convenience of vote-by-mail or fraud free elections?
PING
does the postage stamp constitute a poll tax?
Now that they have voter fraud down to an art in King County, they want to institutionalize it statewide.
Hmmm! Yeah.
As a nearly lifelong Oregon resident, I can promise that the vote-by-mail practice is as rife with opportunity for fraud as any elections process in the western U.S. Other than the occurrence of widespread fraud, there are some elections results which are so inconsistent over the last few years as to defy any explanation.
The largest problem with vote-by-mail is that it is by design, not a transparent process at any step. There is simply no mechanism for review of the results, nor the ballots upon which they are (allegedly) based.
You think there is fraud going on? Well you have to have sufficient proof to obtain a court order to review the ballots. How do you show proof? By having examples available for the court to review...ohhhhh, but wait! You can't see those!
(bart simpson voice:" I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything!")
Long live the Socialist Workers' Paradise of Oregon. Blech!
I want to cast my ballot in the voting booth, not the mailbox! Just last month I mailed out a check for a bill, and the check never made it. I'm not saying it happens all the time, but it happens.
The Republican's should say...."SURE" AS long as EVERY ballot mailed has the FINGERPRINT of the voter on it, and it gets matched to a database with each persons voting information.....AND, we require PROOF of ELIGIBILITY to Vote, also....i.e. Social Security Number AND Citizenship PROOF!
I don't want to vote absentee any more. Really, does anyone feel comfortable filling in those little ovals with a #2 pencil? I sure don't.
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