More Absentee Votes Might Not Count Due to County Errors

In the ongoing drama of voters being disenfranchised by absentee ballots going out late, here’s another new story from around the Country on the same theme:

http://www.meadvilletribune.com/local/local_story_135002509.html

However, the ballots weren’t printed and mailed on schedule. For starters, the state hadn’t certified a candidate on the ballot, which meant the county couldn’t print the ballot. Then another delay occurred when an error was discovered.

It meant instead of ballots being mailed on a Monday, some didn’t go out until that Friday.

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Take the Last Train to Clarksville, and Don’t forget to Vote

This story pretty much speaks for itself. The Vote By Mail Project, and absentee voting enthusiasts continue to push the argument that “no-excuse absentee” voting increases turnout. Regardless of the facts, multiple studies, or continuing cases in reality that expose the truth… No Excuse Absentee Ballots, and Vote-By Mail systems simply do not increase turnout.

http://www.news-tribune.net/clarkcounty/local_story_160000108.html

A 60 percent drop

In 2003, there were 720 absentee ballot applications, while there were only 281 this time around — a more than 60 percent decrease.

Those records go against the recent trends, said County Clerk Keith Groth, whose office oversees Voter Registration. Throughout the county, absentee voting is becoming a more popular method of casting a ballot, he said. It’s unusual for there to be such a decline.

Groth, however, attributes the trend to a decline in contested races between the two years. In 2003, there were six contested races in Clarksville. Four years later in 2007, there were only two.

More on Kentucky Absentee Ballot Fraud

The following story is fairly interesting. Follow the link for full details. Looks like the court has overturned the election on the basis of absentee ballot fraud conducted by the incumbent.

From the Courier-Journal, KY:

Lowe claimed Scott mailed at least 13 absentee ballot applications labeled with campaign stickers and improperly stowed the electronic absentee ballot voting machine in her personal office, according to the ruling.

Scott acknowledged mailing the absentee ballot applications with the campaign stickers, but denied any wrongdoing.

“She was using her office to get an improper political advantage in a way that a challenger could not,” said Jonathan Hieneman, Lowe’s attorney.

Granny Farming of Absentee Ballots in NJ

Well, I don’t really know if the accussed is guilty or innocent. But what I do know is that Granny Farming is not possible without the use of absentee ballots.

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1181368724140310.xml&coll=3

Garcia has accused McCann of duping nearly 300 “incompetent or otherwise elderly and ill” residents at four nursing homes to vote for him.

Hmm… Absentee Ballots useful for fraud… who would have thought it?

Election Day registration makes sense…VBM not so much

An interesting editorial from Massachusettes:

Gatehouse News Service

The age in which every citizen considered voting a solemn obligation is long past. People vote inconsistently, especially people who have recently moved. They forget the rules, the polling places and that bureaucratic requirement that they register to vote at least 20 days before Election Day.

By the time the election comes around, these people may be fired up to cast their ballots, which is no surprise. Fifty percent of campaign advertising is done in the last week of the campaign. But if you’re not registered, you can’t vote — at least not here in Massachusetts.

It doesn’t have to be that way. In six states — Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, New Hampshire and Iowa — would-be voters can register on Election Day. They just bring the same type of identification required the rest of the year, and an elections clerk can certify the form and let them vote. Massachusetts should be added to the list of states enacting this commonsense reform.

Critics worry about voter fraud, but there’s no evidence unscrupulous voters have taken advantage of Election Day registration. Other procedures, like mail-in registration and absentee voting, are easier targets for fraud. And for all the hand-wringing in some political circles — some of it self-serving — the problem isn’t people voting more than once; the problem is people not voting at all.

Hmm… the editorialists points out that absentee voting is more likely to be subject to fraud than Election Day registration. While I tend to agree, it would be important to find real stats on this. Obviously the current state of election stats is such that it won’t settle the question soon.

But at the core the sentiment of this article is on the money, IMHO.