Few states follow Oregon's mail voting lead

10/09/2004

By BRAD CAIN  / Associated Press

While other states pursue high-tech voting machines in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the nation's 2000 electoral debacle, Oregon continues with its low-tech — and unique — system of vote-by-mail.

"Oregon has been proselytizing this system aggressively, but there is unease about it" in other states, said Norm Ornstein, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.

Oregon abolished polling place elections in 1998. The result is that Election Day 2004 in Oregon will actually be a 19-day-long affair, which begins Oct. 15 with 2 million mail ballots being sent to the homes of registered voters.

Oregonians seem highly satisfied with the switch, but other states are leery of following Oregon's lead in moving to all mail ballot elections.

Ornstein and other analysts worry about possible fraud, as well as the potential for coercion that arises when family members fill out ballots together at home.

"Voting at a polling place provides a zone of privacy," he said. "Oregon's culture may not encourage corrupt activities, but that doesn't stop husbands looking over the shoulders of their wives while they are voting."

Oregonians take some pride in what they view as progressive measures, such as voting by mail and legalizing assisted suicide and the medical use of marijuana.

State officials say that elections have been squeaky clean — and they defend a system that allows people to fill out their ballots in the comfort of their own home and on their own timetable.

"People can actually study their voting materials, and they can mark their ballots at the kitchen table," Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said. "It's a wonderful recognition of people's busy lives."

Plus, vote-by-mail has been successful in boosting voter turnout and reducing election costs, Bradbury said.

Under the law, Oregon voters can mark their ballots and mail them back to local election offices any time between Oct. 15 and Nov. 2. Voters can still hand deliver their ballots to designated sites on Election Day.

Nancy Dunn, a health care consultant and registered voter, is an enthusiastic supporter of vote-by-mail.

"I love it," the Salem resident said. "I can sit on my couch, in the quiet of my own home, and not feel pressured to vote quickly. You can take your time and vote at your own convenience."

Some other states are moving in the same direction as Oregon's vote-by-mail system.

Washington state, for example, allows voters to become "permanent absentees" and sign up to receive ballots by mail. Almost 70 percent of that state's voters cast mail-in ballots in 2000.

Vote-by-mail had been used in local elections around Oregon since the early 1980s, but the state's voters in 1998 decided to scrap polling place elections altogether and use mail ballots in all elections.

In the wake of the 2000 voting fiasco in Florida involving "hanging chad" on punchcards, many states have invested millions of dollars in new electronic touch screen voting machines.

Bradbury worries there could be problems in the Nov. 2 election in those states using the touch screen machines, mainly because the lack of a paper trail makes closely contested elections difficult to recount.

That trail is one of the benefits of Oregon's mail ballot system, the secretary of state says.

"You're hearing more and more talk in the halls of Congress and other places about making sure we have a paper record of voting," Bradbury said. "Vote-by-mail fits very well with that."

Critics of Oregon's vote-by-mail system say it is open to abuse because it allows political campaigns to keep track of which voters cast ballots during the 19-day voting period.

"We don't have evidence of fraud in the system, but it's a real concern," said Bill Lunch, who teaches political science at Oregon State University.

It's perfectly legal for those political parties or other groups to contact people who haven't voted yet and to offer to deliver their ballots for them to local election offices.

For example, America Coming Together, a group backing Democratic presidential contender John Kerry, plans to send out teams of volunteers to collect ballots from voters the group has identified or registered.

"As long as there are clearly identifiable individuals doing this, and some accountability measures in place, any effort to increase turnout is a positive thing," said Scott Ballo, a spokesman for the group.

Bradbury concurs, saying that the state has not had any complaints about mail ballot fraud or people being pressured by a family member to vote a certain way.

"People are pretty comfortable with vote-by-mail elections," he said. "The reality is, you won't find a more fraud-free system than the one we operate."