It’s called “pre-election” or
“early” voting, and the number of voters casting
absentee ballots continues to increase in the U.S. each
election cycle. A national debate rages over whether this
is a good or bad development for our democracy.
At a
book forum sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute
for Public Policy Research on November 1, 2006, several
panelists argued that the trend toward increased absentee
voting leaves the process more open to fraud, makes Election
Day less significant, and emphasizes convenience over
the democratic process. Others pointed out that an increase
in early voting is not just a convenience to voters, but
to election officials as well. In the state of Washington,
where 34 of 36 counties “vote by mail,” it
has reduced the need for polling places and poll workers.
Absentee voting dates from the 17th century when farmers
and folks on the frontier couldn’t leave their land
for the long trek to a polling place. During the Civil
War, the Union allowed soldiers and sailors to cast absentee
ballots. From its early use by military personnel, absentee
voting extended to citizens whose jobs kept them away
from home. By World War I, more than 20 states allowed
people to vote who could prove a work-related reason that
kept them from the polls. Today, all U.S. states allow
absentee voting, and in several, it’s the major
way votes are cast.
In Virginia’s most recent election, more than 131,000
voters in the commonwealth requested absentee ballots,
and about 110,000 returned them. That’s an increase
of more than 65,000 compared with absentee ballots cast
in the state’s last off-year election in 2002 (Virginia
State Board of Election -- Voting
Statistics).
The number of absentee ballots more than doubled between
the two off-year elections. (In the 2004 presidential
election, which traditionally has a much higher turnout,
more than 200,000 absentee ballots were cast in Virginia.)
Compared to some states such as Texas, where absentee
ballots comprise 25 percent of the ballots cast, Virginia’s
absentee ballots totaled only four percent of the more
than two million votes cast in November’s state-wide
elections. This may be because Virginians are required
to state a reason they are voting absentee. Individuals
who qualify range from those who will be away from their
normal precincts to those in the military; college students;
those who care for ill or disabled family members, and
several other categories (Virginia State Board of Elections
-- Absentee
Voting).
In 2005 in Massachusetts, the League of Women Voters lobbied
for universal absentee voting. The organization argued
that the state’s restrictions didn’t allow
for absentee voting by mothers with small children, people
who held more than one job, or those working and going
to night school. Despite the League’s efforts to
convince people that increased absentee voting wouldn’t
result in more voting fraud, less- informed voters, or
the loss of a sense of community that voting that a polling
place fosters, the proposal to the state’s amendment
failed.
In Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas and other
states where voters are not required to give a reason
for casting absentee votes, early voting has exploded.
In 1980, only about five percent of voters cast absentee
votes in the U.S. Some predict that in the 2008 presidential
election, more than 30 percent of voters nationwide will
cast pre-election votes.
Absentee ballots are sometimes cited as the deciding votes
in recount elections. In most states, absentee ballots
are counted on Election Day, but can be delayed as long
as 10 days after the election in places like Washington,
D.C. and for overseas ballots in Florida.
While many pundits suggested the close race between Jim
Webb and Sen. George Allen might result in a recount,
Sen. Allen conceded two days after the election when a
post-election canvass indicated that Webb’s lead
would change very little (George
Allen Concedes Senate Race to Democrat Jim Webb --
bloomberg.com).
According to the Virginia process, a recount can be requested
only if the difference between the apparent winning and
losing candidate is one percent or less. This year, none
of the state’s other elections were as close as
the Senate race. An apparent loser must file a petition
requesting the recount with the Circuit Court of the City
of Richmond within 10 days after the vote is certified
by the State Board of Elections. The Chief Judge of the
Circuit Court and two other judges oversee the process
and certify the recount. The candidate must pay the cost
of the recount, unless he or she is declared the winner
or the difference between the winners and losers is less
than a half of a percent. Then the cities and counties
involved in a recount must pay the cost. The Virginia
State Board of Elections does not anticipate recounts
in any of the other November 7 races, either. These included
all of the U.S. House of Representative seats and several
other races. ("Virginia
Recounts -- The Basics," The Washington Post,
November 8, 2006).
Whether absentee voting is a threat to the democratic
process or actually gives more people the opportunity
to cast their ballots is yet to be decided, but one thing
is true: early voting is certainly growing in popularity!
December 4, 2006
(Got a question? Check out Ask
a Librarian Live.)
Nice & Curious
|
Last Modified:
Friday, June 27, 2008
|
