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.