HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0823.002 2010-2012 comments on Res. 298-12 re. State monitoring County election readiness
for Hawai'i County Council, 9 AM Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, Hilo chambers
by Cory Harden. PO Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawaii 96721 808-968-8965 mhginterpac.net
Please consider adding to this resolution a request that the State and Counties strongly encourage vote-
by-mail,while providing other methods for voters that want them. Vote-by-mail could address many of the
problems we had on primary election day.
From a Federal Election Commission report dated 1995 (old but still worth considering) on vote-by-mail:
"One local jurisdiction after another lists, almost gleefully, the problems that all-mail-ballot elections avoid.
No pollworkers... [meaning] : no recruitment; no notices to be sent; no classes to conduct; no distribution
and retrieval of election day supplies ; no last-minute cancellations from workers...; no paychecks to cut
and mail; no W-2's to send ; no pre-dawn election day hours to line up replacement workers. No polling
places ...[meaning] no... leases, telephones, utilities ; no searching for or preparation of accessible
locations ; no frantic phone calls about locked doors; no preparation, set-up, tear-down, or emergency
repairs of voting machines or devices...The elections office can maintain tight security and accountability
during every step in the process...Most officials report that preplanning enables them to spread out the
work so there is less overtime required,there is less stress, and the staff is not exhausted by election
night .."[All-Mail-Ballot Elections, Federal Election Commission, September 1995]
Vote-by-mail can also
• increase turnout and give voters more time for research, discussion, and reflection. Then you're
more likely to achieve the goal of all your efforts: to elect the people most of the voters want.
• save money for some elections
• deter fraud better than photo identification at polling places, according to Common Cause
[http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK 1 MQIwG&b=3790039]
• eliminate voting machines and questions about their accuracy
• help people with unreliable cars and little spare time. and people with disabilities
• avoid problems from accidental and deliberate disruptions—for instance, September 11 was a
local election day for New York City
• provide more time for get-out-the-vote efforts
The only problem with no practical remedy seems to be vote-changing events happening after you vote.
But for most problems, like dealing with a surge in response just before election day, and people trying to
influence voters, there are solutions. And the benefits of vote-by-mail certainly seem to outweigh the
drawbacks.
Please support increased vote-by-mail. Mahalo.
Comm. No. '
Ref. To: VI 64/1.A.n.Cd
Ref. Date SEP 0 6 2011