‘Oregon’ Category

Friday, May 16th, 2008

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. Yesterday I met with United States Postal Service Communications Program Specialist Larry H. Dozier to learn more about voting-by-mail.

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Monday, May 12th, 2008

Oregon, Where Everybody Votes By Mail

NPR’s Ina Jaffe took a look yesterday for Weekend Edition Sunday at the vote-by-mail election system in Oregon, and how the rules there make campaigning a unique experience.

NPR Jaffe Vote-By-Mail

A big critique of vote-by-mail, which has been echoed here by Norman J. Ornstein, is that the process negates the secret ballot. “We got rid of that big reform that guaranteed secrecy in the voting booth,” said Jim Moore, political science professor at Pacific University, “and got rid of the idea that no one can come between you and directly placing your ballot in the box — a sealed locked box.”

Listen to Jaffe’s piece here. My piece this week for NPR Sunday Soapbox, which was teased on Weekend Edition Sunday, was about how super delegates are shifting the election reform debate from our voting systems to our party system.

Why Tuesday? is an effort to make America’s democracy stronger through increased voter participation. We work to make election reform an issue that our politicians cannot afford to avoid.

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Recent Comments

  • Sally White: I agree that the week-end would be the best time for most people. Many are hourly workers and having...
  • sheli: warning - stereo-type buster. I’m a republican and I think it’d be a great idea to move voting day...
  • Daniel A. Beltran: I always thought that we should vote on Sunday, as does most of the world!
  • Chris K.: I support four changes to the election system in the U.S.: (1) Elections should be moved from Tuesdays to...
  • ChicagoDP: I agree that the day to vote needs to be changed. But, like others, I believe that a universal direct...