There has been a heightened focus on efforts to purge people from the voting rolls since 2016. And lately New Hampshire has been in the news for an effort to prohibit voting by college students who came from other states (though it appears that this has been shot down, for now.) All this points to concerns about voter suppression in the coming fall election. So now is the time to make sure that one is registered to vote, and that all information is correct. It is less likely to affect the people reading this, since we are not likely to be first-time voters, and are likely to have kept our voting status current. However we can help get the word out to others:
First of all, voters need to make sure that they are actually on the rolls. This is a helpful link for finding out how and where to check your registration status. It also tells what your options are as far as voting by mail, and what kind of ID you may need for your state.
And here is a good site with a lot of good information about early voting, both in person and by mail. There is a map and a chart detailing under what conditions the various states allow absentee voting. There are some which require an excuse for doing so. But in a surprising number, 27 states, no excuse is necessary. Some allow the downloading of an absentee ballot with a smart phone. However the completed ballot must be physically mailed, in time to meet the deadline for absentee voting.
Here is a useful list of FAQs for voting. In particular, people need to note that it takes 5-7 weeks for voter registration to be processed, and to receive their card. In any event, they need to verify their voter registration a week prior to the registration deadline, in case any corrections need to be made.
Here is a state by state listing of rules for voter registration.
It should be noted that online voting may be available for members of the armed services who are stationed out of country. But online voting isn't in general use because of security concerns.
And this is a good article entitled Everything you've Ever Wanted to Know About Voter ID Laws.
The message to get out is that this election is crucial, and every vote should count. Everyone who is eligible should make sure that they are registered, and that they make use of their voting privilege and duty.
Katherine, many thanks - this is great!
ReplyDeleteI hope we can institute instant runoff voting. I don't know how it can happen because the two parties would be giving up their dominance. I think most Americans would want it if they knew what it was. I think more choice would mean more votes. We need to get out of this rut.
ReplyDeleteStanley, would you elaborate about "instant runoff" voting a bit? Not sure I understand how that would work.
DeleteKatherine, there may be other variants but I understand it this way. You get a first and second choice. Let's say Bernie ran as a third party candidate in the last election. I want to vote for Bernie but I'm afraid it'll split the vote and Trump wins. So I make my first choice Bernie and second choice Hillary. When votes are counted, Bernie doesn't win. So my vote goes to Hillary. My vote isn't wasted.
DeleteThanks Stanley. That is an intriguing idea.
DeleteThis is good information to spread around to families and friends.
ReplyDeleteBut realize that the whole "voter fraud" thing is a Republican effort to keep undesirables away from the polls. Following Florida's election rules has been an eye-popping experience in distraction and distortion since the GOP got the rule-making hammer.
In 1997 Miami had a mayoral election that was, a court ruled, so riddled with "fraudulent, intentional and criminal misconduct" that they had to re-run the election. The main problem was absentee ballots, scores of them witnessed by the same individuals and signed with the same pen and the same hand-writing. The GOP-controlled legislature thereupon sent Florida back to the old days, when you had to be dying or practically out of the country to get an absentee ballot. That lasted one election cycle. Then the Rs decided the Ds were getting so many votes from the "souls to the polls" buses run by churches that they should reopen the absentee ballot boxes to offset the buses.
The Rs offset church buses by making Miami-style corruption easier. (Which works both ways. I've had two calls already from the Ds urging me to sign up to get all my election ballots by mail through 2020 or maybe '22, I forget which. He-yell, there isn't going to be any fraud doing it that way, is there?) But the Rs have also made it harder for the churches to get their folks registered, or re-registered after they are purged.
The thing is, though, you can't fix a major election these day by stuffing the ballot box. There are too many voters most places. There's a wonderful photo of Philadelphians getting off the train they took to New York, at Tammany expense, to vote in a New York City election. But that was more than 100 years ago. If an election is rigged in this day and age, it has to be an inside job. Or maybe a computer hack. But government policy is to deny the second possibility.
Tom, yeah I realize "voter fraud" is a hyped up cconcern, perpetrated by Republicans who are afraid they might lose power.
DeleteBut if they are increasing the hoops to jump through to vote, then it is best to be aware of the hoops and how to navigate them well ahead of time. And unreasonable hoops need to be challenged
Katherine, I agree.
DeleteAbout the photo ID requirement required in an increasing number of states; I realize that support for it is divided along liberal and conservative lines. I sort of understand the reasoning on both sides. What I don't get is how one gets through life without a photo ID. Photos on drivers licenses are a given. You can't cash a check without a photo ID. You can't board a plane without one. One is required at our doctor's office, even if they know you. If you have any radiology or lab work at our local hospital, not only do you have to present photo ID, you have to put your hand in a palm scanner. And this is in a place where everybody knows everybody. The only place I don't have to show my ID is our polling place at the Eagles Club.
ReplyDeleteIf states are serious about requiring a photo ID to vote, they need to provide them free of charge to those who don't have a driver's license.
People who get out and about can't get along without photo ID (although my wife has flown without one, the NTSB not impressing someone who usually leaves her ID at home and almost always gets where she is going). But there are more people than the active can imagine, ill and aged, who never go anywhere.
DeleteA couple years ago, I had to take my 97yo aunt to DMV to get a photo ID so she could open up a bank account. I surmised it had something to do with the futile war on drugs and money laundering. Anyway, I didn't care for that either, having to move someone around who took five minutes to rise out of a chair.
DeleteI don't believe that it is unreasonable to ask for an ID before voters are allowed to vote. I have to provide one in Maryland. Voters who are being registered should be given assistance in obtaining a photo ID if they don't have one. In Maryland, non-driver photo IDs can be obtained at the DMV.
ReplyDeleteMexico is one of many countries that requires a government issued photo ID to vote.
Katherine, the link to the site where one can discover if and where someone is registered does not work. My youngest son has lived overseas for 7 years. During his last 5 years in the US he lived in Pennsylvania, DC, Maryland and Virginia. If he was registered in Virginia it would be especially important for him to get an absentee ballot, as there are some close House races there, including in the district he would be registered in, assuming he did register in Virginia. He lived in Virginia for two years, and in the other states for shorter periods of time.
Thanks Anne. Hopefully I have fixed the link now.
DeleteNone of the links are working for me.
ReplyDeleteHopefully all the links work now. I did check them yesterday, don't know why they didn't work today. Sorry about that!
DeleteThanks! Sending to The Boy now.
Delete