Action Alert: Contact Governor Culver to Fund Paper Ballot Voting Systems for 2008
By IVI
We need your help to get paper ballot voting systems in place throughout Iowa in time for the 2008 elections.
Please contact Governor Culver 515-281-5211 and urge him to provide full funding for paper ballots and optical scan equipment.
Last week, the Governor called for discussion
of adopting a statewide vote by mail system before the state offers
funding for the purchase of new equipment. We commend the Governor for
considering alternative ways to move our elections in the direction of
paper ballots, but a discussion of vote by mail should not delay the purchase of optical scan equipment in time for 2008.
First,
it is unlikely that the state would implement vote by mail in time for
November 2008. That would leave many counties using electronic voting
machines, which even equipped with a “paper trail,” are no match for the paper ballot.
Vote by mail also has important disadvantages:
- Recent scholarship casts doubt on the claim that vote by mail increases voter participation, and in some cases, seems to correlate with decreased participation.
- States that use regular polling places, and have election-day registration, do better than Iowa or Oregon in voter participation. Oregon, the only state to adopt vote by mail statewide, does not do much better than Iowa in turnout among citizens who are eligible to vote. Wisconsin and Minnesota, which have regular polling places and offer same-day registration, consistently do better than either Iowa or Oregon. That's good news, because Iowa
will have election-day registration in 2008! If we keep on the path we
have chosen, there is a good chance that in 2008 we will do better than
Oregon.
- Voter intent is best registered when ballots are scanned at the polling place.
Residual votes, which include intentional skipping of races but also
voter mistakes, are higher when ballots are scanned at a central
location. At the polling place, the scanner will reject ballots that
include overvotes; not so when the scanner is miles away. Oregon had a significantly higher residual vote
in the 2004 Presidential election than jurisdictions that used ballot
scanners at the polling place (page 17 of the linked pdf).
- Vote by mail may disadvantage less affluent voters who do move frequently.
The new equipment we need for 2008 could cost the state $8 million more; $2 million has already been allocated. With a state budget that exceeds $6 billion a year, a one-time expense of $8 million is not a bad bargain for counting our votes accurately.
Tell the Governor that it is time for the state to make a smart investment in democracy. Call him at 515-281-5211, or use the contact information below.
Thank you for all you do.
Best regards,
Sean Flaherty
Co-Chair, Iowans for Voting Integrity
www.IowansForVotingIntegrity.org
Governor Culver's Contact Information
Address:
Office of The Governor and Lt. Governor
State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319
E-mail form at:
http://www.governor.iowa.gov/administration/contact/
Phone: 515-281-5211
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