“lost mail” +usps +statistics

Occasionally my statistics page for the No Vote By Mail Project’s Website gives me an interesting bit of info. But in this case the search thread ultimately won’t take you very far.

Dear Yahoo!:

What percentage of mail is lost by the USPS?

Mike Chicago, Illinois

Dear Mike:

You’d have better luck finding Dick Cheney’s social security number. Even though the United States Postal Service routinely hires contractors to assess performance, it doesn’t release statistics on lost mail. More from Yahoo.

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Montana, Ready or Not, Voting-By Mail

This editorial claims Montana is ready to vote entirely by mail, well only if they want more of this, I guess:

https://novbm.wordpress.com/2006/11/16/many-races-around-the-country-still-too-close-to-call/

In the State of Montana, a local race with just under 4000 votes ended in a tie today. 10 days after the election was held.

Vote by mail and it can take 2 weeks to count 4000 votes.

100% Forced Vote-By Mail Voting Systems

Another comon term, proposed and used mostly by election integrity activists, is Forced Mail Voting. This term denotes the intention of forcing 100% of the voters to vote-by mail in a VBM election system. Poll voters are not allowed to continue voting at the polls, rather they are forced to switch to mail ballots, for some if not all of the elections they participate in.

In reality HAVA, the Help America Vote Act, requires disabled accesible voting devices be available to the public in some form. So the 100% aspect is not the most literal, because in theory some voters will need access to a polling place with a disabled person capable voting device. This is interesting, in particular, because Vote-By Mail advocates routinely say that the “mixed system approach,” rather, the poll place and absentee system is not as easy to administer because it is in essence running two systems. Well even with forced mail voting systems there will according to this law, always be accesible voting devices somewhere in the county.

This terminology is important.

100% Vote-By Mail more problematic than absentee systems

Absentee systems are limited in nature. Those that need ballots for a reason remotely, get the ballot absentee. This system is easier to deal with, in short, because it is a smaller system. Turn absentee voting into liberalized, no-excuse, Vote-by Mail voting and the problems are amplified.

Therefore Vote-by Mail inherently has more problems than limited absentee voting systems. For more, read this.

Vote By Mail or Absentee Ballots?

There’s an ongoing problem with election integrity conversations. Vote By Mail is a term used to describe a system in which EVERYONE votes by mail, however, absentee ballots is the term used to denote when someone specifically needs to apply for an absentee ballot while opting not to vote at the polls.

The two terms do not mean the same thing anymore. Mainly because Vote-By Mail proponents have hyped the new terminology, probably because some marketer polled to find out which term played better to the voting public.

Anyway, absentee ballots are a type of voting by mail, but Vote-By Mail systems, generally either encourage their use, or mandate it. Therein lies the rub.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/elections/2008/05/vote_by_mail_take_that_idea_an.html

921 Ballots Not Counted In Ohio

From Toledo, Ohio, election officials are “heartsick”:

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/NEWS33/805110314

Lucas County elections officials urged voters before the March 4 primary election to vote by absentee ballot to lessen waits at the polls on election day, but The Blade has learned that hundreds of those ballots were not counted because of mistakes made by voters and because the elections board sent voters faulty ballot envelopes.

An Interesting Voting Integrity Editorial

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00179.htm

Flint, Michigan, Approves No Excuse Absentees

Michael Moore, “Call your film crew!” Flint, Michigan, has approved “no-reason absentee voting,” and some members of the Michigan legislature are pushing  No Excuse Absentee voting as well: 

http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-50/121069740631100.xml&coll=5

No-reason absentee voting also has been introduced to Michigan legislators as Senate Bill 12, along with Senate Bills 13 and 10, that would allow for same-day registration and require that statewide elections be conducted by mail only. No action has been taken on the bills yet.

Sen. John Gleason, D-Flushing, approved of the township’s resolution.

“That’s one of the best things we can do as representatives of the people,” Gleason said.

In Michigan, 20 other states and the District of Columbia, only the elderly, individuals with disabilities or an illness, those who serve in the military or those who are out of their communities on Election Day are eligible to cast their ballots by mail.

Reasons such as having to work, a lack of child care or jury service don’t make a voter eligible for an absentee ballot.

Vote by Mail systems use proprietary voting machines

Vote-by mail proponents continually site the idea that vote-by mail systems cure the “Touchscreen problem.” Well that’s just a blatant falsehood. Vote-by mail systems typically use optical scan machines that utilize the very same software base from companies like Diebold, Sequioa, ES & S. The Diebold Optical Scanners that were famously hacked for the HBO Documentary, “Hacking Democracy” are the same used in many Vote-By Mail systems.

Anyway, if you want to read a truly confused editorial, try this… it summarizes the very falsehoods that almost every Vote-By Mail proponent utilizes to peddle liberalized absentee voting.

Oregon Voters Switch Parties, Might Get Two Ballots

Some speculate this will hurt Obama… a recent proponent of Vote-By Mail.