All Too Easy

Will Colorado properly count its absentee ballots? Very possibly not, says Colorado early voter Bruce F Webster:

the voter is supposed to sign in a specific location on the back of the ballot envelope (an Affidavit of Voter). Again, this is pointed out in the separate instruction sheet — and, frankly, on the front of the envelope, too. However, the instruction sheet shows the area to sign as being right under the text of the “Affidavit of Voter”. It’s not — it’s above and to the right of the “Affidavit of Voter”, and underneath the envelope flap. That appears to be deliberate, since there is a portion of the envelope flap that can be pulled off to expose the signature. But it means that if the voter seals the envelope without seeing that location under the flap, s/he may well not realize that s/he has to sign the envelope — and the ballot won’t count.

Bruce notes other problems as well.

I’m no fan of making it so easy to cast mail-in ballots. Part of the election process is to see how a candidate holds up under the pressure of a full-bore presidential campaign. How they hold up in the last days might be even more important than what they promise in the early days. Voting a month early robs a voter of that knowledge. And besides, isn’t an election supposed to be a civic event, where we really do come together as one to perform one of our few real national duties? Marking off a few lines on your kitchen table and dropping something in the mail hardly counts, in my book.

Look, it’s not like I want to stand in longer lines in some stinky high school gym just to cast a ballot for some mostly-worthless politicians I’d never want to invite into my home — but that ought to be one of the small prices of democracy.