J. Kurt Roberts
San Joaquin County could save big bucks by switching to vote-by-mail
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J. Kurt Roberts
Posted: Saturday, October 9, 2010 12:00 am
|
Updated: 6:19 am, Sat Oct 9, 2010.
San Joaquin County could save big bucks by switching to vote-by-mail
This past June, a Grand Jury report recommended that San Joaquin
County abandon the time-honored standard practice of having voters
actually go to their neighborhood polling places each election day.
The report stated that the county could experience an average cost
savings of more than $500,000 each and every year if vote-by-mail
was made the law of the land, or at least the law of the
county.
With there no longer being a need to rent out polling places,
pay and train inspectors and clerks who run the polling places, and
no need to print and distribute the rather large box of ballots and
supplies needed at every polling place, you can see how the savings
would quickly add up.
Electronic voting machines, once touted as a revolutionary
breakthrough in the way Californians vote, have since been shown to
be vulnerable to "hacking" or other electronic manipulation of the
vote count.
The website openvotingfoundation.org has actually stated that
the Diebold voting machines could be compromised with a simple
screwdriver by a person with access and motive, and should be
recalled. Not exactly what I would want to here if I were Secretary
of State or Registrar of Voters.
Even with that knowledge, though, the machines were still used
in every precinct, or rather required, to mollify the Help
Americans Vote Act (HAVA), supposedly to make voting easier for
persons with disabilities.
In the 2008 presidential election, the election that the Grand
Jury report focused on, fewer than 200 total votes were cast on the
ATM-type electronic voting machines. All 513 precincts had to be
fitted with the rather flimsy devices, at a cost of what the Grand
Jury reported to be $2,400 per vote, when the total cost of
operating, acquisition, storage and maintenance of the machines is
factored in.
As one who had served as an inspector for 9-10 elections in a
row until stating my frustration at what I then believed to be a
tremendous amount of waste of time, energy and money at one of the
state mandated preelection training seminars — well, it is a
welcome validation of my views.
It is difficult to gauge whether or not there is at this time,
the money and energy, or for that matter the will, needed to make
this change in California law happen at this point in time. But
since the vote-by-mail numbers in San Joaquin County reflect
similar numbers in the rest of the state, it may be in California's
best economic interests to follow Oregon's lead and go entirely
vote-by-mail.
One thing that is certain is that there is a very significant
amount of money that could be allocated elsewhere, if the county
were indeed able to make the transition to vote-by-mail only. I'd
vote for that!
J. Kurt Roberts can be reached at
jkurtroberts@att.net.
Posted in
J kurt roberts
on
Saturday, October 9, 2010 12:00 am.
Updated: 6:19 am.
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Jerome Kinderman posted at 1:21 am on Sat, Oct 9, 2010.
While I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Roberts that the electronic voting machines should be eliminated (I currently serve as a voting inspector at a local voting precinct and have yet to have one person use the machine), I cannot concur with his notion to force voting by mail.
The problem with that is Constitutional in nature, not just affection for having an actual voting place open to cast my vote. The upcoming election is to take place on November 2, 2010. As such, the polls are to remain open from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. In fact, I'm sure Mr. Roberts recalls the requirement that one official must verbally announce the polls open at precisely 7:00 a.m. and likewise verbally announce it closed at 8:00 p.m.
Election Day is the last day when people are to register their choice for candidates and other items of great importance. Until that day, many things can occur that would have us change our minds. "October Surprises" aren't always limited to days in October. As such, once one places their ballot in the mail, they are unable to change their vote.
If forced voting by mail is enacted, those ballots would be required to be placed into the mail well before Election Day - for everyone. I believe the courts would view such a move as a "no brainer" and declare it a violation of the Constitution.
If folks want to voluntarily vote for mail, that's one thing. And I agree that the rolls have far more people now who choose to vote that way than ever before. But it is THEIR choice.
So yes, get rid of the machines. But no, don't force people to vote by mail.