Interesting Stuff
Down Side Of Absentee Ballot
October 6, 2008 
Traveling in New Hampshire this week where all the license plates remind us, “Live Free or Die.”
Local discussion here in the Granite State seems to be about absentee ballots–when not talking about “leaf peepers” and the awesome progression of fall color across the state. Today, in Boise the clerk has begun mailing 50,000 ballots requested by voters after warnings of long lines at the polls…which brings us back to New Hampshire.
Seems some folks have cast their ballots early, but now are not happy with remarks of their chosen candidate. Local officials say, “sorry, you didn’t wait for the campaign to conclude, so now you are stuck with your choice.” Something for open minded “undecided” voters to think about.
Speaking of politicians, the GUARDIAN was shooting pictures for the state 4th grade social studies text at the Statehouse in Concord and noticed a group of school kid’s coats in the hallway. We found the tour group at the office of the governor.
After chatting up Guv John Lynch, we rounded up the students and made nice images of him teaching some state history to the kids. There are still a few places as small and friendly as Idaho used to be!
To insure more advertising-free Boise Guardian news, please consider financial support.
Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Oct 6, 2008, 8:40 pm
Dave, New Hampshire is the holy grail of Yankee wisdom and common sense.
Oct 6, 2008, 9:24 pm
The problems with absentee ballots are clear and in ones face. It eliminates the guarantee the person registered is the person voting. It lets college students vote both at their schools and in their home states…
Oct 7, 2008, 6:46 am
Speaking of Guvs… Popkey had an article on how most of the candidates for state office, when asked what former governors they admired, chose Andrus and Batt. None for Duh Dirk. I can see either of the two teaching history in the office to 4th Graders.
Oct 7, 2008, 10:10 am
It seems to me that anyone who would be affected by a “smoking gun” in the last 4 weeks of a presidential campaign, probably shouldn’t be voting to begin with.A portion of the voting process would be to research all candidates during the process of making their choice. When I think of people voting because “he is cute” or because “she is a strong woman”, or because ” a person of color deserves to be president”, scares the bejeebers out of me!
Oct 8, 2008, 7:25 am
Remember when you vote, be it absentee or at the polls, your vote is worth only 1/10th what it used to be.
Apportionment has not kept up with population growth!
Also remember instant runoff elections.
Vote for the candidate that supports increasing apportionment and implementing instant runoff elections.
Oh wait! What am I thinking? None of our candidates even know what those terms mean.
Oct 8, 2008, 9:36 am
Now Cynic, we have spoken before about the problems with introducing logic and common sense into the equation. Please stick with the “talking points” as supplied by the individual campaigns. After all, These “tidbits” are what a voter uses to justify their vote.
Any effort to “dilute” the voter base of an elected official will be met with disdain and resistance.
There is no question that increased apportionment and run-offs are needed, the problem, as I see it, is how do we get the incumbants to agree with something that they don’t want?
Oct 8, 2008, 1:54 pm
George Will, conservative columnist for Newsweek, has an interesting opinion. He’s worried early voting and absentee ballots will ultimately do away with election day, which he says is an important community-wide day of decision. It was a real interesting story but there weren’t no pitchers.
Oct 8, 2008, 8:31 pm
One complaint against about absentee voters voting early is that they may miss out on the last minute campaign pitches (mostly negative ads) that might sway their votes. Smart (aka annoying) campaigns seem to have found a way around this. I applied for an absentee vote, oh about 10 days ago, and found out that my name and address has been made available to the campaigns when I got a recorded phone call noting that I had requested an absentee ballot and then pitching their party and candidates.
Oct 9, 2008, 1:15 am
Speaking of letting folks vote twice:
Seems a number (a few dozen, hundreds, thousands, take your pick) vote absentee in their home states (cuz, yeah, they’re absent by November), then cast ballots in Florida or Arizona or whereever they go to thaw out cuz they’re residents there on election day (they have residences and addresses and all that good stuff in both places).
Seems nobody ever cross-checks among various jurisdictions for this kind of stuff.
How do I know they do this? A little bird told me.
(snowbird, stool pigeon …)
Oct 9, 2008, 12:42 pm
It’s amazing that after 200 some-odd years, one of the largest democracies in the world (India being the largest) still hasn’t perfected the simple act of voting, and even required United Nations Poll Monitors at the last Presidential Election.
The Founding fathers are invariably spinning in their graves!
Oct 9, 2008, 12:43 pm
“paul says:
Oct 6, 2008, 8:40 pm
Dave, New Hampshire is the holy grail of Yankee wisdom and common sense.”
Ah, but remember, NH also inflicted McCain on the republicans, a mistake that will bite us all in November.
20 years ago NH was peopled by folk born and raised there. Today they have 1/3 of their population libera democrats from Mass trying to flee the mess that s Mass but brnging a good bit of that mess, grow government, philosophy with them.
Oct 13, 2008, 6:33 pm
This whole bit about voter registration really befuddles me. I’m not from round these parts, but when I voted my first and only time before I got to US, I only went to the polling place related to my place of current residence, got my name checked with the voter lists, confirmed my identity using my passport, cast my ballot and off I went.
I don’t really understand the need for an extra (and seemingly redundant) step in voicing citizen’s will. It only seems to impede the process and prevent some citizens from voting.
In the country where you cannot as much as fart without it being recorded in your file some-homeland-security-place, where you for life branded with SSN it seems weird to me that they cannot figure out how to attach a vote to that number and host of other bits of information about the person they possess.