Currently under consideration is a proposed amendment that would remove the restrictions on absentee voting. At present, under the state Constitution, absentee voting is permissible only for reason of absence from home, disability, or religious beliefs. These kinds of restrictions are outmoded, and the majority of other states have ditched them. If we’re going to hold elections on a Tuesday, the least we can do is make it easier for people with jobs to vote.
This amendment is a very good idea. It was reported positively by the Committee on Election Laws. Let’s hope the ConCon votes yes – it sounds like they will.
UPDATE: Thumbs up on no-excuse absentee voting (189-5). This proposal also has to be voted on by the next legislative session before it can go to the ballot.
it passed with something like 189 votes.
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Its a change that makes sense. Why have a ‘test’ to see if you should have to vote in person? Voting is voting; as long as its official it should be honored.
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The next part of voting day reform… why the 20 day waiting period between submitting your voter reg form and voter eligibility? Even if you don’t think same day registration is a good idea, does it really take 20 days to process the form? Surely they could reduce it to 18, or 16, or even 15. The shorter that gap, the better the chance of increasing turnout — and reducing barriers to people voting is a good thing for democracy.
According to Rep. Petruccelli, the House chair of the Election Laws committee, they are actively considering reforms like same-day registration and early voting – both of which they should adopt. The absentee voting issue, however, requires a constitutional change because of unfortunately restrictive constitutional language.
Abentee voting has become wildly popular in many places as an alternative to DRE voting machines–an appeal that is understandable but gives a false sense of security. With an absentee ballot, there is far more potential for fraud (it makes vote-selling feasible, for one thing, though I haven’t heard of that actually happening.) There is also the question of where the ballots go–in 2004, after the results had been certified, our SOE found a box containing over 250 absentee ballots that hadn’t been counted. I like seeing a ballot go into a ballot box, myself, or an optical scanner if opti-scan ballots are used (sending in opti-scan ballots and not seeing them go into the machine means over-votes and under-votes end up being discarded instead of giving the voter a chance to fix them).
the problems you mention have nothing to do with exactly who is eligible to vote absentee; they have to do with how absentee votes are handled.
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So long as making absentee voting available for anyone is a good idea, it seems to me that absentee voting available for everyone is also a good idea.
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As for the problems you mentioned, thats really an important role for the Secretary of the Commonwealth to watch over, administer, and audit correctly.
…we urged people to vote absentee, as they have that ablity now. I remember calling people in Lewiston and Agusta, and pointing out that sometimes, early autumn can bring a snowstorm, and if they were CERTAIN of their vote – why not send it in and avoid any problems?
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That would apply here too. I think it would mean greater voter turnout, and potentially LESS fraud, as absentee ballots can be challanged and examined by both sides.
docked by 1 point for working for Bush! đŸ˜‰