More days to vote and fewer polling places ideal

Editorial    Pantagraph   17 June 2005

Having more than one day to vote and having fewer, but better-staffed, polling places are intriguing ideas. They are among recommendations from the National Task Force on Election Reform, a group of present and former election officials from 15 states charged with looking for better ways to accommodate voters. The group was put together by Election Center, a Houston firm that trains election officials but has received some criticism for accepting some of its funding from manufacturers of voting machines.

However, the task force didn't recommend buying new voting machines, although it downplayed the need for paper receipts from voting machines in an electronic age.

This isn't the only group looking at ways to make it easier for people to vote.

Immediately after the 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida, there were numerous suggestions on how to improve the system. But most zeroed in on getting rid of simple punch-card ballots and spending millions if not billions of dollars on voting machines. That included purchasing machines in most areas that had not had a problem with punch-card ballots, including virtually every county in Central Illinois.

The accusations of vote-machine tampering in the last election came as no surprise. Some people just will not accept that most of the problems in 2000, which were confined largely to major metropolitan areas, were caused by voters and inattentive election judges.

Ideas from the reform task force make more sense.

Instead of focusing on equipment, concentrate on making voting easier and less of a hassle.

The task force has suggested allowing several days to vote in the presidential election instead of a single day. That would play havoc with exit polling that allows radio and television to predict winners before all of the polls close, or shortly thereafter, but that concern should take a back seat to voter convenience. Some might even call that a bonus.

Instead of having small precincts laden with underpaid patriots willing to sit for 13 hours while their neighbors cast ballots, have fewer, but more accessible "universal vote centers" that could allow better-trained judges or staff people. People could vote at any of the centers. Colorado has been experimenting with such a system for two years. The Larimer County, Colo., clerk replaced 143 precincts with 20 centers with easier access and better parking.

Having centers in hotel ballrooms or major public facilities could also eliminate some of the safety concern that has surfaced about having polling places at schools while children are there.

The task force also recommended sharing voter registration information among states to avoid duplication and prevent fraud.

We hope local election officials make some comparisons to determine the differences in cost and efficiency instead of automatically rejecting suggestions for change. Elections should be about making it easier for voters, not necessarily more convenient or less expensive for election officials or for candidates.