Why Vote By Mail?

Oregon is the only state in the Union that votes entirely by mail, and as NPR's Ina Jaffe reported last week, that's not only changing the way campaigns conduct their get-out-the-vote efforts, it also removes the tradition of the secret ballot entirely from Oregon's voting system. This week for Why Tuesday? Jacob Soboroff met with United States Postal Service Communications Program Specialist Larry H. Dozier to learn more about voting-by-mail.

For more:
http://whytuesday.org

NPR's Ina Jaffe Report:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90354956

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• vote
• by
• mail
• why
• tuesday
• jacob
• soboroff
• oregon
• election
• reform
• ballot
• polling
• place
• absentee

[WhyTuesday]

tayfan2 commented (and I accidentally deleted) "Oregons VBM started in 1981 as a test. It became permanent in 1987. This means that they had six years in which to change it. If the Oregon voters feel it's secret enough, why are others butting in? Are you implying that rogue mail carriers will open the mail, not like the choice, and discard the ballots? This is called creating a problem where none exist."

[WhyTuesday]

tayfan2, as I say in the video the point is that VBM removes the process of the secret ballot because anyone can drop of anyone's ballot with the USPS, not that there will be rogue mail carriers. Jacob

[LiviJones]

It's odd, I was born and raised in Oregon and I've known nothing but the 'mail in your ballot' method. The points you brought up were very interesting. Thank for uploading!

[kirby4d]

Yeah, just ignore how:

Eisenhower deposed the moderate, democratically-elected leaders of Iran and Guatemala (200,000 innocents killed in Guatemala).

Nixon deposed the democratically-elected leader of Chile and installed Pinochet, who killed over 5000 people.

Also, don't forget we trained the Taliban and the mujahedeen. Reagan trained them.

Bush ignored Darfur and went after a guy who didn't do a damn thing.

[SparklestheClown]

When you look at the horrible humanitarian records of many dictatorships, look at Darfur, and many other horrible leaders, you would want many of them out, even the UN disapproves of them. They mass kill, and usurp - You are blaming your country for too many things, that are not fair. Look at Russia walking into Afghanistan, and then, once they were outed, in comes the Taliban to rape and plunder even more. D-- all of these terror groups.

[kirby4d]

It wasn't Democrats who deposed democratically-elected governments abroad and set up dictatorships throughout the world.

[SparklestheClown]

Rules are good. I voted for Al Gore too. But, the Republicans did not bring on 9/11 - the world conditions may have. You do remember, Charlie Wilson is a Democrat! We have to stop thinking one party or the other brought this or that on. It is both sides.

[kirby4d]

So setting rules and then following them is bad? The Democrats can't be right no matter what you guys want them to do.

And swing to the left a bit sounds like a good idea. The right ruined this country and brought on 9/11.

[SparklestheClown]

Millions did choose to vote. If someone felt it was not right, it was their duty to totally revote both states, while it could certainly have been done timely. And someone was willing to pay. If the DNC and Dem. party cannot run this system properly, how can they run the country? They cannot. We are literally giving our country away piece by piece, and going so far to the left, it feels as if we are giving the US away to the communists, special interests, and far far left extremism.

[kirby4d]

Well no one said they were to vote. They lal knew it wouldn't count. If you count the results that happened, you disenfranchise those that stayed home because they knew it didn't count.