Ron Wyden calls for National Vote by Mail

[sense]

Fashioned after the Oregon vote by mail.

https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-calls-for-national-vote-by-mail-to-fight-back-against-new-barriers-to-voting


Washington, D.C. –As a new tide of voter disenfranchisement rises across the country, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today announced a new campaign to expand an Oregon-style vote-by-mail program nationwide and tear down barriers to voting.

“My home state of Oregon has led the nation in making voting more accessible. No one has to take time off work just to exercise his or her constitutional rights,” Wyden said. “My proposition is the rest of our country should follow Oregon’s lead and offer all voters a chance to vote by mail.”

[RobertEarl]

1. Congress can only decide federal races

Congress can pass one simple law describing how the races for president and congress members shall be voted on.

States can do as they please with their elections, within certain guidelines. Feds can't proscribe the manner or time for states.

So, it would be quite simple to have all federal elections be voted on via paper ballots and those ballots hand counted.

The revolution can make it so for 2018 congressional elections.

[jwirr]

15. You bring up a real issue here. If congress does this with

the presidential elections would anyone turn up for down ticket elections? I think this is an issue that will have to come from the ground up. States will have to do this one at a time and then the feds can change it nationally.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

31. Congress can't do it for any elections

How elections are conducted are up to the states.

[RobertEarl]

27. Congress can declare.....

That votes for federal offices shall be made on paper ballots that are mailed in and counted by Military personnel.

And counted three times to ensure total accuracy.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

32. No, they can't n/t

[msongs]

2. who knows where your ballot goes, ends up, what happens to it. vote in person is the way.

[neverforget]

5. Sorry but our vote by mail works great here in Oregon.

The ballot goes to the county election division where it's counted.

[Orrex]

17. Do you get a receipt or some other form of confirmation?

How can you know that your vote was received, counted, or accurately recorded?


And before you ask me how I know that my vote cast at the polling place is accurately recorded, let me say that I've been asking that same question for years.

[ViseGrip]

19. We can see if it was received. but we can't see how they are counted.

[HuckleB]

21. You can track your ballot.

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/showVoterSearch.do?lang=eng&source=SOS

[Orrex]

23. Neat.

I still can't think of a foolproof way to confirm that one's vote is counted as cast, but this tracking feature is nice.

[HuckleB]

25. I admit that I hated it when we to vote by mail.

I liked the ceremony of going to vote, but vote by mail seems to be working well, so far. I still walk my ballot to the drop off at the library with my kid, so as to reinforce the responsibility part of it with him, and get some mild ceremony out of it.

[sense]

6. Voting in person,

by rigged machine with no paper trail. We know that doesn't work.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. It works great, thanks.

Who knows? You can track your ballot, make sure it was received. And there's a paper trail to boot.

Can you do that with a Diebold machine?

[Bluenorthwest]

10. I take my ballot directly to the Elections Office because I'm the sort that thinks that's

big fun, but to be blunt with you I trust the US Mail to deliver my ballot to that office if I needed then to do so. It works very well indeed.
Oregon turnout is considered low at 70%. New York, also a closed Primary State, has not broken 30% turnout in years. NYC the turnout is generally 20% which means about 12% of eligible Democrats in NYC manage to vote. Which turnout is best for the Party?

[frylock]

24. I'm a permanent mail-in voter, and I drop my ballot off at the polling place as well.

I like to thank the volunteers and get my 'I Voted' sticker to wear around the office.

[HuckleB]

22. I walk my ballot to the drop box at the library with my kid.

I can check my ballot status online.

[auntpurl]

3. I am in favor of this.

That way the votes can be hand-counted and verified even after the fact if necessary. And it eliminates voter disenfranchisement.

[merrily]

4. Great in terms of access, but who opens that mail, who counts it and where is it stored?

I see lots of potential for election fraud.

I know we have absentee ballots now, but they are not often sufficiently numerous to swing an election.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Wyden is right. And it works.

It's already a major felony to fuck with the mail, so you have that additional layer of protection.

In Oregon you can track your ballot, make sure it was received.

I suspect like ANY system there are probably weaknesses but by and large it seems to make far more sense than they way it is done currently.

Oh, and in Oregon we do have polling places, so people can come in and vote with their ballot, or drop it in a secure box, instead of mailing if they so choose.

[Enthusiast]

9. Didn't Ron Wyden endorse the TPP? Sorry, I no longer trust Ron Wyden.

Vote by mail probably has a glitch. Maybe they will dispose of ballots that support the real Democrat. Maybe they will attack mail handlers and steal the mail.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Problem with 'no longer trusting' him over TPP is that he has always supported free trade

and your verbiage indicates you previously trusted him. He voted for NAFTA while in the House, he voted for CAFTA which even Hillary voted against. So if you trusted him previously, with his full support of free trade bills it just seems contradictory to declare this to be your line in the sand. His views on free trade should be a surprise to no Democrat.

[Enthusiast]

30. I didn't know he supported NAFTA and CAFTA. I was mistaken when I sent him a modest donation.

I won't make that mistake again.

[Blue_Tires]

13. You must not trust anyone, then

If a position on *ONE* single issue is enough for you to dismiss them...

[Enthusiast]

29. I trust no one that supports these destructive trade deals.

[Blue_Tires]

33. You've drawn you line in the sand, and I can appreciate that...

I just hope your line remains consistent...

[MurrayDelph]

14. I've met and spoken with him

He sincerely believes that the TPP will bring jobs to Oregon, which is his top priority.

Don't forget he has been in the foreground regarding personal privacy and Net Neutrality.


(And I drop my ballot off at a county collection site eight blocks away.)

[Enthusiast]

28. I'm against the TPP. Period.

[Democat]

20. If anyone disagrees with you on any issue you don't trust them on other issues?

Sounds like a hard way to go through life.

[bemildred]

11. Yes, that's the way to do it.

Vote at your convenience with a paper trail and no way for anybody to mess with it.

[Nye Bevan]

16. I love this idea. Abolish polling places.

I always vote by mail here in CT anyway (absentee ballot).

[ViseGrip]

18. Won't work everywhere. Soldiers ballots are dropped in the ocean enough! And, where I live

bulk mail is no longer allowed to travel through my cities post office! Because in 2006 a candidates mail card, for his campaign was checked in, but never checked out, and was never delivered. They investigated and it was no where to be found, yet it was checked in. That mail represented every dime the candidate raised to reach all the voters for his election. Some states have a larger demographic of people who don't live for corruption. My state is number one, this year number two for corruption.

Can you guess where I am?

[bkkyosemite]

26. I just voted in Oregon by mail. It's easy, convenient and gives you plenty of time to vote and mail

back. The only worry I have is that the tabulators are owned by a private company. I would want for oversight on that issue.'

Also in CA you can vote online. But that is a worry for me.

[DetlefK]

34. Or move election-day to a F**KING weekend.