"No Excuses" Absentee Voting Means ....
Posted by Chap at 1/24/2008 1:13 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
I sit on the Privileges and Elections Committee in the Senate. The most controversial issue we will handle this year is SB 69, copatroned by Senators Deeds and Howell, which permits "no excuses" absentee voting.
First, a little context: each Presidential year has seen a successively higher turnout. In 2004, the national turnout exceeded 100 million for the first time. This year, all expectations are that the turnout will be substantially higher.
With higher turnout comes longer wait lines and more stress on our electoral infrastructure. This phenomenom has trickled down to state and local races. For example, voters at Wolf Trap Elementary in Vienna on Election Day 2007 were waiting nearly one hour to vote by the end of the day. And this was during an "off-off year" electoral cycle with only state and local races on the ballot.
Long wait lines discourage the following groups from voting: elderly, disabled, mothers with children, fathers with children, people with jobs, students with class, people with errands to run.
In other words, it discourages everybody.
Senate Bill 69 would alllow anyone to vote by reporting to the registrar and filling out the necessary paperwork prior to election day. No excuse would be necessary. The process would begin once the ballot was finalized and voter registration "locked down" for the election, i.e. 30 days prior to election day.
From other states, it is anticipated that as much as 10-20% of the electorate would take advantage of this privilege, just as many already vote absentee. Others may wait to vote in order to see all the ads (or get all the phone calls). Or wait until the neighborhood polling station is open.
Either way, the passage of SB 69 will open the door to avoiding election day lines.
You'll have no excuse for not voting.
I completely agree with "no excuses" absentee voting and encourage its passage.
Great idea and benefits all
I'm 100% behind this. We have to make voting as easy as possible. The silver lining in the Bush Administration's efforts to suppress voting is that their claims of massive voting fraud have been shown to be groundless.
Great work on this, Chap. Too many elderly, handicapped and just busy folks have been disenfranchised by "difficult" absentee voting rules.
Irv
This is a great move. We need to give working people a better option, as well as others who find it difficult to go to the polls. We should also allow registration closer to election day and consider holding elections on the 2 days of a weekend instead of a weekday.
This is a sound idea, and has proven to increase voter participation in other states,without problems.I am surprised that it is at all controversial.Go for it!
However,on the point of long lines, I have never had that experience at Madison HS where I vote.At every election, I just walk in,perhaps two or three at most in a fast moving line, and vote and out in less than 30 minutes!
This suggests that the problem of long lines may need addressing from another view point.'No excuses' will likely not address the long lines at Wolftrap.They should review their "process",and then review the "process" at Madison to determine why the difference,and fashion a more targeted solution.
Mr. Galie may be correct, and it may be a process problem at that polling place. Since moving to the City of Fairfax, I've worked at polls handing out lit from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. for a number of elections. The last presidential election was weird. When I got there at 6, there weren't the usual 4 in line, the line was longer. There actually was a line for folks to get INTO the polling place until about 10. I'd never seen it that way before. It got weirder after work when there is normally a rush of voters. It didn't happen. The sixth precinct is a very well-run precinct, and this line was a function of the number of voters, and possibly the new-ish voting machines. I think that everything should be done to make voting easier, and I fully support the no excuse needed absentee voting. (P/S, Chap, I love the "Check Spelling" option.
This is a great idea. I think government has an obligation to make it as convenient as possible for people to vote. Another step would be extending the polling hours beyond 7pm. If you don't vote in the morning, it can be hard to leave work and fight traffic in time to get home to vote by 7:00. Taking this the next logical step, why do we have to vote at 'home' anymore? I'd like to be able to walk into any polling place in Virginia, identify myself, and have the voting machine render the ballot for my precinct, and record my votes. We should have the technology for this in the 21st century.
This is excellent! I hate how now, should you check the wrong box, or cancel you business trip after having voted, you can be put on trial with 10 years prison and denial future voting rights as a penalty.
'No excuses' is a breakthrough for voters who already made up their mind, or for those who want a paper trail. I am confident that it will result in higher turnout. Way to go Chap!