Vladimir Putin Prefers Voting By Mail

Apparently up and coming dictators prefer absentee ballots:
Medvedev is set to secure 61 percent of the vote on Sunday, with nine percent for his closest rival, according to a survey by the VTsIOM opinion research centre.
On Friday President Vladimir Putin was due to make a televised pre-election address to the nation.
In addition to the manipulation [...]

Don’t Forget to Sign Your Ballot

A new article out of Florida points out several new flaws in absentee voting, among them, not signing your ballot:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Addie Reddick of West Palm Beach was one of 200 Palm Beach County voters who didn’t sign.
“I’ve been voting this way for quite some time,” said Reddick, 92. “And I thought I had everything right.”
Palm Beach [...]

What’s Wrong With Voting By Mail or Absentee Ballot

 
I’ve been working on this bullet list for, oh, the entire year and a half that I’ve been running this blog, so it keeps changing. It also isn’t my highest priority to fully edit, what is essentially always evolving. However, by posting this list, it will inevitably make it apparent that some edits are absolutely [...]

Indiana Looks to Ease Absentee Restrictions

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2008/02/14/news.qp-7684997.sto
The above article requires a subscription. But it’s another state trying to ease absentee laws, paving the way for 100% Vote-By Mail over time, as Washington, California, and Oregon are used as test cases.
The other news out of Indiana is that Secretary of State Todd Rokita is supporting a Early Voting Center plan, but one [...]

Absentee voting on the rise, who’s pushing this agenda?

Ohio’s News Herald has a relatively balanced article on the rise of absentee voting, but doesn’t dig much below the surface:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19289537&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6 
To keep up with the demand, the board hired 30 part-time temporary employees at $10 an hour.
“If demand for absentee ballots continues at this rate, more people than ever could vote by mail than in any [...]

California, Millions of Uncounted Vote-By Mail Ballots Left

California’s Primary Presidential vote is still far from over, about 1.5 million votes from over, that is….
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/02/an_estimated_15.html
But there still are well over a million votes, probably about 1.5 million votes that remain to be counted. While these will not change the winner of the statewide vote, these ballots could very well affect the numbers of [...]

Confusion Over Deadline Disqualifies Voters

Just another error in the Vote-By Mail system, or “glitch” as it is often referred to by election officials:
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/02/09/front/599194.txt
The Saturday before the election, March 1, is the last day county offices can mail out absentee ballots. Many people assume mail-in ballots need only to be postmarked before the day of the election. That’s not correct.
“It [...]

Vote-By Mail Problems Persist Nationally

During this year’s Presidential Primaries, more and more voters and states are waking up to the problems associated with Vote-By Mail and absentee ballot problems. Here’s just a few articles to get a sense of what is happening around the country:
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/02/10/opinion/poll/doc47a94bef89a35849408348.txt
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=18&entry_id=24054
http://www.wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=7846488
And then there’s the increased potential for “granny farming” absentees:

http://www.sharonherald.com/local/local_story_040214520.html
In John XXIII Home, Hermitage, there’s [...]

The Problem of the Vanishing Primary Candidate

Did you already vote for this guy?
What happens when you’ve voted absentee and then your candidate drops out of the Presidential race before they count your vote… well that’s what you get with Vote-By Mail.
Here’s a few articles to read on the subject:
San Francisco Gate
Marrisa Maciel, a former Berkeley resident now going to school in [...]

Vote-By Mail disenfranchises 1/3rd of Kitsap County Primary Voters

This just in… and in my new home county no-less:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_invalid_ballots.html 
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — The Kitsap County auditor says about a third of the 15,000 mail-in ballots it has received for the Feb. 19 primary so far are invalid and will not be counted.
Auditor Karen Flynn says voters failed to check the box selecting the Democratic [...]