Denver Post

PRO: Mail ballots are way of the future
By Rutt Bridges

Sunday, September 15, 2002 - Your right to vote is precious.

So is your time.

Voting "yes" on Amendment 28, the vote-by-mail initiative on the November ballot, will preserve and protect both - enhancing the security of the votes that Coloradans cast while also providing a more convenient and straightforward way to exercise that right.

The result will be to encourage more Colorado citizens to participate in the democratic process while safeguarding our system's integrity.

Right now, even the most civic-minded voters may face an uphill battle getting to the polls. Have you ever had a problem finding your polling place? Have you ever been stuck in traffic, or waited in long lines? Have you ever had a last-minute emergency at home or at the office that kept you from voting?

There will always be some people who just don't take their right to vote very seriously. No ballot initiative can change that. But there's nothing unpatriotic about making voting more convenient for ordinary Americans who really want to participate in democracy.

Voting for Amendment 28 will ensure that Colorado's voting process keeps pace with the changing society that it serves. Ballots will be automatically mailed to all active voters. Voters can then mail them back or deposit them in secure drop boxes. It's a lot like an absentee ballot, only without all the bureaucratic red tape of having to re-apply every year.

You'll have the time to make thoughtful decisions at your kitchen table without being rushed at the polls. Given how long and complex ballots are today, people need quality time to vote wisely. The ballots would be mailed to you about two weeks in advance, and can be filled out in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

Voting by mail boasts a proven track record: Coloradans have used mail ballots with great success, boosting turnouts in municipal and other nonpartisan elections. Improving ballot security while expanding this common-sense approach to primary and general elections is the next logical step in modernizing how we vote in Colorado.

If for any reason you don't receive a ballot, you can request one from your county clerk. And unlike today's mail-ballot elections, you can also simply vote the traditional way on election day, at a local high school. No one is disenfranchised.

Voting "yes" on 28 will improve the security and uniformity of our elections and also could spare Coloradans a major headache.

Remember Florida's debacle during the last presidential election? It was largely the result of a crazy-quilt of antiquated voting procedures from one Florida county to the next, aggravated by all the things that can go wrong at polling booths, from hanging chads to allegations of voter intimidation due to poor polling-place supervision.

As the U.S. General Accounting Office reaffirmed following the Florida fiasco, the polling booth is the venue of choice for ballot manipulation and voter coercion. They noted, "Intimidation at the polls still casts a shadow over our election."

Contrast that with the tight security of mail ballots under Amendment 28.

Your ballot is sealed in a secure envelope, then sealed again inside a return envelope that you sign and hand-deliver or deposit in the mail.

Your signature on the outside return envelope is matched by election judges against registration records. (No such precaution currently exists, either at polling booths or for current absentee or mail ballots.)

The internal secrecy envelope is then removed, physically separated and counted by a different judge who has no knowledge of the signed envelope.

A "yes" vote on Amendment 28 ensures your anonymity and substantially increases the integrity and uniformity of the voting process. It also doubles the fines and provides jail time for anyone who commits voter fraud.

Mail ballots with the clearly needed, mandatory security provisions required under Amendment 28 provide a strong antidote to voter fraud.

Meanwhile, the initiative should create a substantial increase in voter participation, especially in primaries.

That's important, since fewer than 15 percent of voters participated in last month's primary election. By contrast, Colorado's statewide voter participation in the 2001 off-year election more than doubled after half the counties switched to all-mail ballots.

The mail ballot is also cost-efficient. As Colorado's Legislative Council notes, "The cost of mailing ballots to voters is often less than the cost for traditional voting machines and election judges in each precinct." And if you include the value of the time that you won't have to spend in traffic and standing in lines, the overall savings to Coloradans is substantial.

We at the Bighorn Center - the organization that successfully promoted Colorado's Telemarketing No-Call List - appreciate the public's need for more privacy and fewer hassles. That need extends to modernizing the voting process, too. Voting "yes" on Amendment 28 will mean a simpler, more convenient and more secure way to make your vote count.

Rutt Bridges is the CEO of the Bighorn Center for Public Policy.