State election laws

[greenforest32]

Thought it would be interesting to have a thread on state election and voting laws.

One relatively new development is online voter registration: http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/electronic-or-online-voter-registration.aspx

Arizona Reports Success with Electronic Voter Registration

Arizona first implemented online voter registration in 2003, and has reported success with their program.  The secretary of state reports that over 70 percent of all voter registrations are now performed online, and that the state saw an increase of 9.5 percent in voter registrations from 2002 to 2004 with the implementation of online registration.

Arizona also reports cost savings by eliminating the data entry process for state and county employees that a paper-based system requires, as well as increased accuracy in its voter rolls. The costs associated with a paper registration were 83 cents, while the cost of an online registration was 3 cents, according to the 2010 report, Online Voter Registration: Case Studies in Arizona and Washington.

Online voter registrations require a driver's license number or the last four digits of a social security number, and the inclusion of this data in all online registration allows for quick and accurate checks for duplicate records. For more details on online voter registration, see the June 2011 issue of NCSL's elections newsletter, The Canvass.

States with Online Voter RegistrationMap of states with online voter registration

Arizona -- implemented in 2002; see EZ Voter Registration
California -- passed in 2008 (SB 381);this law is to be implemented in 2014 or after; passed in 2011 (SB 397) permitting counties to implement online registration
Colorado -- passed in 2009 (HB 1160); see Go Vote Colorado
Indiana -- passed in 2009 (HB 1346); see IndianaVoters.gov
Kansas -- implemented in 2009; see Vote Kansas
Louisiana -- passed in 2009 (HB 520); see Geaux Vote
Maryland -- passed in 2011 (HB 740); implementation is currently in process
Nevada -- see Online Voter Registration; presently only available for residents of Clark County
Oregon -- passed in 2009 (HB 2386); see OreStar
Utah -- passed in 2009 (SB 25); see Office of the Lt. Governor
Washington -- passed in 2007 (HB 1528); see Online Voter Registration

[greenforest32]

Absentee/Early Voting laws (July 22, 2011)

http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx



Colorado is heading towards becoming the third all-mail voting state I think: http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/colorado-collects-popular-votes-mail.html

Colorado is quite possibly the easiest place in the country to vote. That's because the state offers voters three major options: They can sign up and become permanent absentee voters, receiving a ballot in the mail each election; they can vote early in-person; or they can vote at a standard precinct on Election Day. In the August primary, however, most of the precincts were gone.

Instead, 46 of Colorado's 64 counties held their elections almost entirely by mail, with ballots sent to every registered voter. The shift reflects the current dismal fiscal climate for local governments -- Colorado counties saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by doing away with precincts. But the shift may also reflect the natural progression of states that experiment with mail-in balloting. Oregon and Washington also started by offering the option of either precincts or mail ballots. Today, both states vote almost exclusively by mail.

http://www.governing.com/blogs/politics/Colorado-Mail-Voting.html

Forty-six of the state's 64 counties are holding all-mail elections.

That's quite a change from just a couple of years earlier. In 2008, when I last took a national look at voting by mail, only two states, Oregon and Washington, were embracing (almost) exclusive postal voting.

Colorado and California had a different model. They were letting voters opt to be "permanent absentee voters." Permanent absentee voters receive a mail ballot every election. At the same time, citizens that didn't want to vote absentee could vote on Election Day at traditional polling places. In terms of making it easy to vote, it's hard to argue that this hybrid model isn't the best approach. Vote by mail or in person, whichever you please -- what could be easier than that?

Easier, that is, for voters. For election administrators, nothing could be more difficult or more expensive than having to conduct a full precinct election and provide mail balloting at the same time. My story ended by quoting Bill Bradbury, Oregon's then-Secretary of State:

How long the hybrid system will remain dominant in Colorado, or anywhere else, is anyone's guess. In Oregon, a hybrid similar to Colorado's led gradually to a declining use of polling places and eventually to all mail. "It really doesn't make sense," says Secretary of State Bradbury, "to spend all the time and all the money to have polling places for a smaller and smaller group of people."

Lawmakers in Colorado seem to be taking that message to heart. In 2009, state legislators passed a law that allowed counties to conduct all-mail primary elections. Of Colorado's eight most populous counties, only Republican-tilting El Paso County (where Colorado Springs is located) will have precincts for next month's primary.

66.7% of active registered voters have requested permanent mail-in voter status as of March 2012: http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/VoterRegNumbers/2012/March/TotalPMIVRequests.pdf

Vote by mail is increasing in California too as you can see from these 1962-2010 stats: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/hist_absentee.htm

37.5% of registered California voters have requested permanent vote-by-mail status as of November 2010: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/vote-by-mail/pvmb-voter-survey-1992-2010.xls

[crypto-fascist superhero]

All-mail voting is of course the most conducive to fraud since the counting can be done in total secrecy.

[greenforest32]

All-mail voting is of course the most conducive to fraud since the counting can be done in total secrecy.

Secrecy = what? Counting by election officials? How is that any different than how they count all paper ballots?

[crypto-fascist superhero]

All-mail voting is of course the most conducive to fraud since the counting can be done in total secrecy.

Secrecy = what? Counting by election officials? How is that any different than how they count all paper ballots?

At least in Massachusetts, the voter puts his/her own vote in the ballot box, in full view of the (volunteer) election officials, who then count the ballots immediately after voting ends.  It's very difficult to have counting fraud unless all the volunteer election officials are in on it (which is not unheard of, certain Boston precincts occasionally break 100% turnout).  You essentially have to take their word for it much more in an all-postal situation.

[greenforest32]

All-mail voting is of course the most conducive to fraud since the counting can be done in total secrecy.

Secrecy = what? Counting by election officials? How is that any different than how they count all paper ballots?

At least in Massachusetts, the voter puts his/her own vote in the ballot box, in full view of the (volunteer) election officials, who then count the ballots immediately after voting ends.  It's very difficult to have counting fraud unless all the volunteer election officials are in on it (which is not unheard of, certain Boston precincts occasionally break 100% turnout).  You essentially have to take their word for it much more in an all-postal situation.

There is some level of control given up in any election system. The system I could see having the lowest possibility for counting fraud is for each voter to independently watch their ballot be counted and have full access to the tallying system to double-check (pre and post election). That seems relatively easy to achieve with internet voting but even then, I doubt everyone would check.

[Seattle]

My only issue with all mail voting is that the results of marginally close elections can take several days (like Murry v Rossi) to complete.

[bgwah]

I like all mail voting.

[greenforest32]

Same-day voter registration: http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/same-day-registration.aspx

Eight states have same-day registration (SDR), whereby any qualified resident of the state can go to the polls on election day then register and vote.

State - Year enacted

Wisconsin - 1971
Maine* - 1973
Minnesota - 1974
Idaho - 1994
Wyoming - 1994
New Hampshire - 1996
Montana - 2005
Iowa - 2007

*Maine’s same-day registration law, enacted in 1973, was repealed by the legislature in 2011. A people’s veto of the law in November, 2011, was successful, and same-day registration remains the law in Maine.

Two others allow voters to register and cast a vote during the early voting period.

Since 2007, North Carolina has allowed voters to register and vote on the same day at early voting locations that are open from 19 days before the election to 3 days before the election. Ohio also allows same-day registration during early voting, which is conducted beginning on the last Tuesday in September through the first Monday in October. These two states do not permit same-day registration on Election Day, however.

[greenforest32]

Colorado is heading towards becoming the third all-mail voting state I think: http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/colorado-collects-popular-votes-mail.html

Wow, maybe Montana is up there too: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20120511/NEWS01/205110318

VOTING ABSENTEE A GROWING TREND

How Montanans vote has changed dramatically since the turn of the century.

In 2000, only 15 percent of Montanans voted absentee in the general election. That meant they would be traveling on Election Day; had a good reason they could not vote in person, such as being disabled; or they simply did not feel like going out to vote on the day of the election. That latter reason became acceptable when the 1999 Montana Legislature approved "no-excuse" voting.

Absentee voting grew in popularity, with 22 percent of Montanans voting absentee in the 2004 general election, according to Montana's secretary of state.

Then, in 2005, the Legislature agreed to allow Montanans to become permanent absentee voters if they chose.

In 2006, absentee voting in the general election rose to 29.17 percent; in 2008, to 42.21 percent; and in 2010, 47.15 percent of the 367,010 votes cast came by absentee ballot.

One historic vote for Montana came in the June 2010 primary, when 54.26 percent of all votes, or 112,204 Montanans, voted using an absentee ballot.

The Nov. 6 general election could be the first time a majority of Montanans vote absentee in a general election. Most absentee votes these days are cast by mail.

Montana's political parties were noncommittal this week on whether they would support a mail-only vote.

"We haven't taken an official position," said Montana Democratic Party spokesman Chris Saeger. He said that would be in the bailiwick of party caucus leaders in the 2013 Legislature.

However, Saeger added generally, "we support making it easier for Montanans to vote."

Bowen Greenwood, executive director of the Montana Republican Party, said the state GOP platform in 2010 "included a position in favor of mail ballots."

He added there is no 2012 position yet because the party meets June 14-16 in Missoula to consider its platform.

Moore says the Montana Legislature in 2011 came "this close" — holding her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart — to mandating that all future elections in Montana be conducted by mail.

House Bill 130, calling for all-mail voting in Montana, was sponsored by Rep. Pat Ingraham, R-Thompson Falls. The bill passed the Montana House on a key second reading by a 57 to 43 vote.

Ingraham was optimistic. All the bill needed was another positive vote on its third reading for the legislation to be forwarded to the Senate.

Then, 10 Republican members of the House switched their votes in that round, a few contending all-mail voting could prompt voter fraud.

The all-mail voting bill went down by a vote of 57-42.

"I was taken by surprise," Ingraham said. "I was devastated."

She added, "I thought for once we had gotten past politics."