Bad Idea of the Month
The major political parties are sending people around to collect Oregon voters' ballots and deliver them to the county elections offices on their behalf.
Anyone who would hand their ballot to someone they don't know personally is a fool.
I don't care if they're wearing an ID tag.
I don't care whether they look honest and official.
I don't care that they mean well.
I don't care that they'd be risking jail if they took your ballot and didn't deliver it.
With all the vote fraud going on in this country -- and especially given all the additional opportunities for fraud that Oregon's wacky vote-by-mail experiment creates -- people need to exercise the utmost caution.
When your ballot is complete, put a 37-cent stamp on it, walk it to your nearest public mailbox, and drop it in.
Don't hand it to a stranger.
Don't even leave it out on your own mailbox for the mail carrier to collect.
And be sure to follow all the instructions for completing the ballot. If it's deficient in any way, you can be sure that this time, there will be somebody at the electons bureau to challenge it.
| Posted at 1:11 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (7)
Oh, never mind that. My ballot's going straight, in my '72 VW Beetle, to the Elections people. The County Library's got nice (and permanent looking) drop boxes in thier lots (the one at Midland Branch looks like a Postal Service box), and maybe I'm too jumpy (I'll cop to that), but this time around I don't trust anybody save myself to get this message where it needs to go.
Sam Klein.
Posted by Samuel John Klein | October 20, 2004 1:31 AM
Hey, Sam:
I've driven down to the county elections office myself a few times. Even slipped my ballot through the mail slot there late one night on the eve of Election Day.
County library drop-off boxes are o.k., I guess, but I worry about those sometimes. Who physically empties their contents? Where? How often? And how are the ballots taken to the county? Any room for a bureaucratic screwup there?
Trusting the Post Office doesn't always pay, either, does it? But I'm sure not going to hand my ballot to some kid with a name tag who's ringing my doorbell. Especially if she was hired by Kevin Mannix...
Ah, the '72 Bug. Drove mine into the ground here in Portland after three cross-country trips and two engines. Great memories there.
Posted by Jack Bog | October 20, 2004 2:20 AM
A 37-cent stamp may not be sufficient postage for election ballots, according to a story on the KPTV (channel 12) website this morning.
Posted by charlie | October 20, 2004 7:40 AM
Gave my ballot a sweet little kiss, patted the envelope and dropped it in the stamped mail box. On to victory for Kerry.
Posted by Pam | October 20, 2004 8:06 AM
Recent news like the Florida elections person going through voter registrations and ripping up democratic registrations, suggests that we have illegitimate elections - an illusion of democracy. This is probably how it has always been. As a first-time voter immigrant, this troubles me.
Posted by Pat | October 20, 2004 11:27 AM
I'd like to see a study that shows the number of ballots that are collected at the post office, but not delivered because of the failure to put a stamp on the envelope. Or maybe there is a secret agreement that the election offices will pay for unstamped ballots, but they can't let that information out or no one would put a stamp on their ballot.
Personally, I deliver my ballot to the library. It is my understanding that those drop boxes are returned to the election office unopened and replaced with empty boxes. I have never (and will never) mail my ballot.
Posted by TimC | October 21, 2004 12:58 AM
screw this vote by mail stuff. I registered at the DMV in June and i still don't have my ballot. WTF?! I'm stickin to the old take-foot-in-hand and hike to the voting booth myself.
Although i wonder if its part of a greater conspiracy to just conveniently ignore registrations with "Independent" marked for a party. You never know. I mean, weirder shit happens all the time.
Posted by pril | October 24, 2004 8:42 PM