Question for DUers in Ore, Wash and other vote by mail states?

[SoonerPride]

I have voted by mail in Oklahoma for years. It was preferable to me because I hate standing in lines, especially with mouth breathing Republicans.

Our system of vote by mail had one drawback, though, that you had to get the ballot notarized before mailing it in. This week the state Supreme Court threw out that law only to have the legislature pass a NEW law in two days (!!) requiring either a notary or a photo copy of your ID to be mailed in with the ballot.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/oklahoman.com/article/5661893/stitt-signs-bill-to-reinstate-notary-requirement-for-absentee-voting/amp

So in those states like Oregon and Washington that vote by mail is there any notary requirement or other burden on the voter other than putting the ballot in a mailbox with a stamp on it?

And has voter fraud been rampant?
(I’m sure I know the answer to this already)

[LizBeth]

1. Oregon, we do not have to put a stamp on it. Return envelope. Also we have drop boxes

located in different areas.No burden or anything but I do hear they check the signatures.

[WheelWalker]

6. Agree with all points. See my post below.

[LizBeth]

7. +1

[KPN]

10. Yes, here in Oregon, signature IS required. They have

a computerized program that compares ballot signature to the one on you voter registration. As above poster stated, you can mail it or drop it at designated drop boxes (usually the library here). And you can drop it off up till 8:00 pm on the day of the election. It’s a great system.

A quick aside: A State Legislator was caught a couple decades ago in the County south of here having forged his wife’s signature on her ballot via the automated signature analysis. He resigned from the legislature as a result. Oh yeah, he was an R! It’s the only fraud I’m aware of with Oregon’s mail in ballot system. That may be only because it was a high profile case; I don’t know. But as far as I know, vir th sully fraud-free system.

[LizBeth]

17. Isn't that something. Always a Republican. I think they might flag mine. I did my normal sig on reg.

When I Did my sig for vote I did it slowly and clearly. My reg sig is first letter and a line. I thought I had better do it clearly to make sure the vote counted. My bad. I changed sig. But, in essence it is similar in slant and all, but one is a squiggly line and one is clear. May be flagged but I hear they get a hold of a person if that is the case. Do you know>

[KPN]

19. No idea. I always have signed my name the same way. Good

question to call your County Clerk about I would think. They administer the elections at the local level — unless maybe the major cities do at local city level (Portland. Salem, Eugene, Bend, Medford — that’s about it).

Re: an R being the fraud case: Yeah, my thinking is if there ever is substantive scale fraud on mail-in ballots, it will be the Rs. I suspect part of the reason they “project” so much is they think everyone does as they would do. In effect, they think it’s okay unless the other side does it.

[LizBeth]

25. +1. That is a good idea to call. I always forget to simply call. They helped me on reg and very

helpful and very nice and patient.

[likesmountains 52]

2. In Colorado we just have to sign our name on the envelope.

They apparently check this against your voter registration signature. I don't know if they just check a certain, random percentage or what. The instructions clearly state that if the envelope isn't signed, your vote is not counted.

[Jim__]

3. I live in Colorado and have been voting by mail for years. There is no notary requirement. - n/t

[WheelWalker]

4. No and no.

County has your signature on file. No voter fraud, rampant or otherwise. And you don't have to put in mailbox. There are locked drive by ballot depositories throughout each county if you prefer not mailing. If you mail the ballot back, no stamp is required.

[Wounded Bear]

5. WA here. No notary required, just a signature...

I have heard of some minor incidences where sigs didn't match, but they seemed to handle it fairly well IIRC. Was never a big issue. Sigs can change over time with a lot of people. AFAIK it was just some of that. There is also a method to have them co-signed if the voter is incapable of signing.

They've gone full postage paid on it, too. No stamp required.

No voter fraud that I can remember, and none of the shenanigans like the NC cases. And this while our SoS is actually a Repub . She has been doing a good job from all I can tell.

[Thunderbeast]

8. No notary or witness required in Oregon

In over 30 years of vote by mail, only ELEVEN fraud cases have been discovered out of millions of ballots cast. Voter registration is automatic (with an opt-out) at the DMV.

[grantcart]

9. 5 states currently use all vote by mail, no problems, no fraud

CO WA OR HI UT

When I said no fraud I should be clearer.

There have been a few cases of Republican husbands, including one office holder, forging wife's sor ex wife signature and mailing in a fraudulent ballot, but no evidence of systemic fraud.

[KPN]

20. Bingo -- Rs only.

[CanonRay]

11. You don't even need a stamp in Oregon. We have ballot drops.

No notary, no nothing.

[SoonerPride]

12. Sigh. I need to move to Oregon.

[shanti]

23. Same here in California n/t

[ismnotwasm]

13. One time I screwed something up, can't remember what but it must have been a signature

They sent me a letter explaining my vote was invalidated and why

Mostly I love vote by mail

[Ferryboat]

14. Aside from what others have posted

Wash. also has a barcode on the envelope to crosscheck if voter is at listed address. May be looking for or checking other info I'm not aware of.

[hlthe2b]

15. Colorado... Only need to sign it and they compare your signature with what is on file.

It works very well and Colorado has looked hard and found virtually no evidence of issues nor fraud.

[flibbitygiblets]

16. Signaure validation in Oregon is enforced. I had a ballot returned once for verification once.

I hadn't realized it was going to be verified, and I made a squiggly line instead of my normal signature. Sure enough, I received it back for validation. I re-signed, re-mailed, and no further issues. It was reassuring to know that this process is in place.

Other advantages to mail-and-dropbox-only voting:
1. Higher turnout. In 2016, 68 percent of the state's registered voters voted, eight percent above the national average.
2. Cheaper.
3. in-person voting can actually discourage people from voting, especially now that 32 states have some kind of voter i.d. requirement.
4. Informed voting. Having time at home to research!

As for fraud issues, the only one I remember was one county a few years ago where some...wait for it...REPUBLICAN...officials had tried to steal a bunch of mailed-in ballots. They got caught, and I believe measures were put into place to avoid another such incident.

[KPN]

22. That's right, I remember that. There was also the one

where the State Legislator in Curry County forged his wife’s signature on her ballot. He also was an R. He was forced to resign his office as a result. The automated signature verification process caught him. That goes back probably 20 years now.

[Sneederbunk]

18. We've done it in Oregon since 1998.

[LisaL]

21. OH allows absentee voting by mail for any reason.

Notary isn't required, but they will look at your signature and decide if it matches to whatever they have on file. Since primary was cancelled, a lot of people had to vote by mail.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

24. No

You have to sign your ballot and it's compared with the signature they have on file.

I know they check this because my brother was called to verify his signature once after sending in his ballot.

[Maru Kitteh]

26. We vote by mail in Montana, no stupid burden of a notary here. You can

mail it with a stamp or drop it off at the courthouse. No complications, no worries, and no - no fraud.

[marlakay]

27. No they make it easy here Oregon

You just vote put in envelope, sign and if any question they can check signature.

I drop off at box at election office but you can mail. They send you a voter pamphlet a week before envelope.

[lettucebe]

28. Washington state - no requirements just send it back

We don't even need a stamp as it's postage paid. Works a treat.

[Retrograde]

29. California's process

Any registered voter can request a mail-in ballot, either for a particular election or for all elections automatically. More and more counties are going over to all mail ballots: they send a ballot to each registered voter. Ballots can be mailed back in (my county at least provides the postage), dropped off at the county registrar's office starting a month before the election, dropped off at any city hall in the county during published hours, dropped off at early voting centers scattered around the county for about 2 weeks prior to the election. Or if they really like marking their ballots on election day they can go to a voting center (aka a polling place) any where in the county, fill in their ballot and turn it in on election day. If they want to mail in their ballot, as long as it's post-marked by 8 PM on election day it has until the following Friday to get to the county registrar. Ballot status - sent out, received back, accepted - is posted on the county registrar's site and can be checked.

If there's a problem - a voter didn't get a ballot, it went to the wrong address, it wasn't accepted for some reason - the voter can demand a provisional ballot on election day. Provisional ballots are all tracked: the voter has an id code that they can use to see what's happening to it.

To be accepted, the ballot envelope must be signed by the voter. According to a poll worker at the registrar's office I talked to, each envelope is looked at by a human to make sure the required signature and date are on it, and that the signature bears some resemblence to that on file. That's it.

The drawback of the process is that it takes more time to process and count all those physical ballots. This is baked into the process - counties have 30 days to report their official totals. Our secretary of state maintains a web site with scads of information, including county counting status.

I like California's system. But then we want to make it easy for as many people as legally possible to vote.