Essay: Helping Us Vote - 10/27/06

Here’s something to feel good about. Michigan has long had one of the cleanest and problem-free voting systems in the country.

And it’s getting even better. Everybody this fall will be voting on optical scan machines that leave an easily checked paper trail.

For all practical purposes, anyone in Michigan who wants an absentee ballot can get one. New equipment now makes it possible for virtually anyone, no matter how disabled, to preserve their privacy and vote by themselves, without any assistance.

And if you fall suddenly ill on Election Day, you can have somebody bring a ballot to the hospital.  That’s all good.

But here’s the distressing thing.  According to Chris Thomas, the state’s top election expert, less than half of Michigan’s registered voters are likely to vote in this election. That’s the case even though the state’s economy is universally agreed to be in deep crisis.

That’s the case even though control of Congress is at stake, and the ideological division between the parties is the greatest it has been since the New Deal. And that’s the case even though there are at least two major ballot proposals – affirmative action and education funding – which would have a major impact on our lives.

So if voters still aren’t sufficiently motivated to show up, do we really want to do much more to try and entice them?

Ideally, everyone should vote. But do we want people who are uninformed, ignorant, and who couldn’t care less deciding who should appoint our judges or how education should be funded? Someone close to me has a father who is gravely ill. Specialists are being consulted, but nobody is talking about giving the hospital custodial staff an equal vote on his treatment.

I have absolutely no problem with same-day registration. If you suddenly get interested in an election, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be allowed to cast your ballot.

On the other hand, I have some major problems with Oregon’s vote-by-mail system. I worry that it might enable a domineering spouse to forcibly dictate how their family members vote. I also worry that it might increase the potential for fraud.

What about early voting?  Part of me likes this idea a great deal. There are people who find it hard to get there on that particular day. Ironically, I have been one of them, especially when I was a reporter. Election Day was the hardest day for me to take time to stand in line.

Yet in a way, early voting is like opening your holiday presents early. And what if you vote Oct. 20 for Joe Blow, and then you learn on Oct. 30 that old Joe has been indicted for tax evasion?

You can’t take it back. I like my presents on Christmas, my World Series in October, and my elections the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Standing in line never killed anyone, and I hope to see you at the polls.                                                 

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Comments

[Thrasher]

Yada, Yada, Yada,.. cut to the chase the key to strong voter turnout is the quality of the candidates.

In Michigan and across the country one of the major's reasons why our country is in a meltdown and we have zero credibility in the world of late is the depth and quality of our leaders across the board from the public sector to the private sector and of course on a personal level in our homes...

We are a empty vessel sailing in turbulent weather looking for land but unable to right the ship..

[Verbose Salyer]

"...but nobody is talking about giving the hospital custodial staff an equal vote on his treatment."

Stinky analogy for elections (reminded me instead of our "custodians" in DC and how they involved themselves with Terri Schiavo), but I'd sooner give the custodial staff a say than the executives, who might risk the patient's life to save a few beans and then grant themselves a big bonus for being so clever. As long as we're in the hospital, I'll try this instead: You may well want to give the custodial staff a say when it comes to picking someone to manage a hospital. They have knowledge of nuts and bolts problems that are relevant and experience in areas where doctors, accountants, and occupants of the executive suite are clueless.

Speaking of clueless, I know folks in my city who voted for Supreme Court justices on the basis of television adverts where the candidates all pretended to be McGruff, the crime-fighting dog. Ignorant voters is the rule, rather than the exception. I just hope for them to turn up in such numbers and variety as to cancel each other out.

You do get a gold star and an oatmeal cookie for being correct about same-day registration.

I think early voting can serve to show glitches that otherwise would remain hidden until election day when they would be a much bigger problem... not that identifying a problem means that anyone will attempt to correct it. See this:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/15869924.htm

Odd, they have early voting, but they claim the problem is due to heavy use. Imagine if all the voting was confined to one day! I also noticed the writer managed to work in the term "conspiracy theorists." De rigeur, apparently, when anyone frets about whether or not his vote is counted correctly due to bad technology.