In its first year of operation, one of the priorities of the Carbon County Democrats for Change was election reform. Among our desired changes were an easier absentee ballot system, election day registration, and the possibility of early voting.
Now New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is calling for these same changes in his state’s voting laws. He isn’t asking for election day registration, but he is pushing for moving the deadline for registration closer to election day.
The absentee ballot process in Pennsylvania seems to be geared to reducing the number of voters. If you are out of town on business, you can get one, but if you want an absentee ballot for medical reasons, you need to list your doctor and his or her phone number and address. I helped a number of senior citizens fill out absentee ballot applications, and the doctor requirement is a problem. First of all, most senior citizens have more than one doctor. Secondly, if you are like me, you know where your doctors are located, but you don’t know the actual street address.
The best system is--if you want an absentee ballot, for whatever reason (it’s cold in November, you can’t drive because of cataracts, you just don’t like to leave the house), that should be enough. A voter shouldn’t even need an explanation to request an absentee ballot.
I should point out that. according to a recent study, early voting tends to depress turnout. The excitement of election day is lacking, and many campaigns actually start cutting back on their ads weeks before the election day. Even if we put a hold on that particular reform, however, later registration and an easier absentee ballot procedure would certainly increase turnout.
The problem is that most state legislators like the system under which they were elected. If you won your election under the existing rules, why would you want to change them? In addition, many Republican politicians like a low turnout, since in most elections the higher the turnout, the more Democrats vote. Once again, the right action is not the one our legislators will support.
Actually, the easiest way to do it is the way Oregon does it; everyone votes by mail. Essentially, everyone has an absentee ballot. Consequently, Oregon always has one of the highest voting turnouts. In a democracy, the government owes it to the people to make voting as easy as possible. Maybe it's good not be living in one of the original 13 states, that sometimes remain so hung up on old methods. In this last election, the entire left coast, with it's easy voting methods, led the nation in voting turnout, and therefore re-elected it's Democratic representatives. Republicans will always try to control turnout to as small as possible, so their angry white constituents will keep them in power. If everybody actually voted, this would be a far different country.
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