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Vb
y Mail
Isabella Jacoby, Columbia Universiy
Use exclusively mail-in ballots or all national elections to increase voter turnout while making voting both airer and saer.
Voe-by-mail is a sysem o voing similar o he absenee ballo opion alreadyavailable in many saes.Ballos are mailed o vo-ers a leas wo weeksbeore he elecion, alongwih a pamphle o inor-maion on he candidaesand issues. Voers canreurn he ballo by mailor a drop locaions. Bal-los are examined or er-rors and suspeced raudup o a week beore heelecion, bu no resulsare allied unil Elecion Day isel.Voing by mail addresses he problems o radiional voing mehods, while in-creasing urnou, voer educaion and represenaion, and decreasing coss. Thesysem also cenralizes balloing, allowing or increased sandardizaion and de-creased abiliy o arge disrics or minoriy groups.
History
In 1987, Oregon approved he voe-by-mail sysem or local elecions. By 1995,hey had conduced he US’s rs ederal voe-by-mail elecion successully, andin 1998, voers approved Ballo Measure 60, insiuing permanen and univer-sal voe-by-mail, by almos 70%.2Oregon has had consisenlyhigh voer urnou since enacingM60. In 2000, he rs presiden-ial elecion held by mail, urnouwas 80%, and in 2004, i was87%.
Analysis
Aricially long lines, inimidaingocials a he polls, and oherpoenial insances o elecion
Key Facts
US voer urnou could be increased by more han
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hal while saving millions o dollars a year in eachsae. Voer represenaion and educaion willincrease along wih urnou.The only example o saewide voe-by-mail is
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Oregon, which has only suered rom a single caseo voer raud in he pas wo decades, as opposedo over a housand ballos (1% o he ballos cas)discarded jus in Washingon’s recen gubernao-rial elecion.
Talking Points
This sysem oers a soluion o elecion
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raud by limiing he power o elecionsocials and proecing he inegriy o heballoing process.Increased paricipaion, a more inormed
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populace, and represenaion a all socio-economic levels makes i more likely haeleced ocials acually represen he willo he people. Voer urnou in Oregon isalmos 90%, signicanly higher han henaional average.
 
raud have been repored in recen elecions – all o which could be prevenedwih he voe-by-mail sysem.Voing by mail is in permanen use only in he Sae o Oregon, alhough ohersaes have ried voe by mail or small elecions. In 2004, Oregon had almos87% voer urnou, as compared wih he naional average o 55.3% in he sameelecion. The convenience o he sysem allows boh a greaer voer urnouoverall and greaer represenaion or marginalized socioeconomic classes –hose who may no be able o ake ime o o go o he polls during heir work-day. Having resources a hand and as much ime as necessary o ll ou he ballohelps voers make more inormed choices ha are more reecive o heir acualwill. Oregon also saves, on average, $3 million each elecion in money ha wouldhave gone o poll workers, polling machines, and locaion renals, among oherexpenses.While some worry ha voe-by-mail increases he opporuniy or voer raud,he opposie is rue. On an individual level, he sysem allows a week or eachballo o be checked or accuracy and inegriy, including a comparison o signa-ures and a check o make sure ha person has only voed once. On an insiu-ional level, voe-by-mail drasically decreases he likelihood o “solen elecions.”“Cenralized supervision and conrol o ballo processing […] mainains uniormiyand sric compliance wih law hroughou he sae,” says Oregon Secreary oSae Bradbury. The mail-in sysem eliminaes polling place inimidaion acics,deliberae undersang and long lines, all issues ha have plagued recen elec-ions.
Next Steps
Municipaliies should begin by holding local elecions by mail, and include a per-manen absenee opion or hose unwilling o go o he polls a all. A publicawareness campaign should be used o educae people abou he change inevery sae i is eeced. Wihin 2 years, he local and sae elecions naionwideshould be enirely convered o voe-by-mail or all elecions.
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Sources
 
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The Associaion o Ceried Fraud Examiners, htp://www.ace.com (Accessed December 9,2007)FairVoe.org, “Voe By Mail,” htp://www.airvoe.org/urnou/mail.hm (Accessed November 12,2007).Mulnomah Couny Elecions Division Homepage, htp://www.co.mulnomah.or.us/dbcs/elecions/(Accessed November 12, 2007).Oregon Secreary o Sae Execuive Division Ocial Governmen Websie, “Ballo Measure 60,”htp://www.sos.sae.or.us/execuive/voebymail/index.hml (Accessed November 12, 2007).*A complee lis o sources is available upon reques35
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