Thurston County mulls switch to vote-by-mail

BRAD SHANNON  THE OLYMPIAN   15 March 2005

Thurston County election officials are weighing whether to ask voters if they would rather convert the county's election system to an all vote-by-mail system like Oregon's.
 
Several counties, including Mason, already are converting permanently, and legislation passed by the state Senate would make it easier for the rest of the state's 39 counties to follow suit. Legislation in the House would force counties to convert by 2008.

Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman said she likes giving counties the option, but she first wants to know what her public thinks perhaps through an advisory ballot in September.

"I want to sit down with the county commissioners," Wyman said, explaining her plans to raise the question. "I think we really need to be looking at it. We've got 70 percent of our voters voting absentee."

Under federal election changes that followed the 2000 Florida vote fiasco, all of the state's remaining punch-card counties, such as Thurston, must convert by 2006 to optical scan. The county also must make touch-screen voting machines available to people with disabilities at every one of its 57 poll sites, but it could avoid that by switching to vote by mail.

Wyman said Thurston County might have a ballot measure in September for a public facilities district project. If so, adding an advisory ballot on vote by mail would not cost much, Wyman said.

If Thurston County decided this year to convert to vote by mail, it could avoid having to buy the touch-screen voting equipment for polling sites for the 2006 elections.

Views on converting

The arguments for mail-in voting are simple, including cost savings and avoidance of problems associated with creating a paper trail for electronic voting.

Wyman added: "Vote by mail does get to more uniformity statewide, and it also reduces confusion for voters. They are getting the ballot 25 days prior to the election."

Many Olympian readers like the idea of converting, although support is not unanimous.

Here is a sampling of views:

- "I would support a 100 percent vote-by-mail system for two reasons," said Margaret Hellberg, a member of the newspaper's Reader Network from Olympia. "(1) it would save an enormous amount of money, and (2) it would create automatic paper trail to avoid fraud."

"Oregon has taken that step, and we should follow suit," Hellberg added in an e-mail.

- "I hate voting by mail, and I have no other option," said Judy Lyon, from Lacey. "I think voting by mail is one sure way to guarantee fraudulent votes will be counted."

- "I vote by mail but know there are others who prefer to go to the polls to vote," said Robert Broderson, an Olympia reader. "I think it ought to remain an option."

- Earl Bailey of Olympia wrote that he favors vote by mail but wants to see more safeguards. First, he would like to see the state's voter registration database up and running so that the probability of fraudulent votes is reduced.

He also said that because a signature is easy to forge, "there needs to be some other check and balance" for mail-in ballots.

- Marilyn Hansen of Olympia casts ballots by mail but sees advantages to poll-site voting. "Although it is a good choice for me, I do miss the sense of community one gets from voting in a school environment with neighbors and others," Hansen wrote. "I believe that we would still have voting irregularities and/or just plain old difficulties unless the actual ballot was easier to complete away from a polling place."

- Gail James of Lacey said mail-in voting "seems very sensible," and she described polling sites as often appearing like ghost towns. "Why pay for all that effort. Oregon seems to have had much success with 100 percent mail-in voting," James wrote. "I would also like to see the IRV (instant runoff voting) system considered."

- "I realize it's swimming against the tide," wrote Don DeVore of Tenino. But he called vote-by-mail "an invitation to widespread voter fraud."

- Howard Glastetter of Olympia said mail-in voting is convenient and encourages people to make choices ahead of the election deadline.

Still, he wondered: "Did any of those few 'dead' people who voted in the last election do so by mail ballot before they died? Why wouldn't that count?"