Voting by mail delivers new set of problems

S pokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton has proposed that all Spokane County voters be sent mail-in ballots. Most ballots already are being cast by mail, Dalton says. All-mail voting would save taxpayers money, she says, and it would provide better access to the election process for the elderly and those with special voting needs.

Fortunately, instead of adopting the proposal, the Board of County Commissioners put the issue before the voters this November. The issue of voting in Spokane County needs to be addressed, and we can make the first step towards true voting reform by rejecting the auditor’s proposal to eliminate poll-site voting.

In 2000, Spokane County had 191 polling sites. That number was slashed to 93 by 2004. It does not require a great deal of analysis to determine why the number of poll-site votes has decreased. Access to poll sites has diminished, and, in many precincts where vote-by-mail is already mandatory, voter choice has been eliminated altogether.

The cost of election services in Spokane County, excluding equipment and related expenditures, was $1.46 million in 2000. In 2004 this cost was $1.87 million. While the number of poll sites has decreased by more than 50 percent, the cost of elections has skyrocketed by more than 28 percent — more than twice the rate of inflation in Spokane County.

The fact that there was a recount in 2004 may explain part of this increase, but it does not explain why costs increased by 15 percent between 2000 and 2002. This is contradictory to claims that decreasing the number of poll sites will result in cost savings for the taxpayers. Studies conducted at Portland State University after the state of Oregon switched to all-mail voting concluded that the change did not save money, and some costs were shifted from the government to the taxpayers, who already pay for elections.

Better voter access for the elderly and people with additional voting needs has been cited as a reason for abolishing poll-site voting. But with a mail ballot, voters with sight or other impairments must often rely upon another person to help them read and fill out the ballot. In many cases a family member or trusted friend can fill that role, but in other instances voters must rely upon strangers. When a voter has to rely upon a third party to vote there is an increased opportunity for fraud, and the voter can be subjected to coercive influences. With modern voting equipment, however, the ability of the impaired voter to cast a ballot independently at the polls is greatly enhanced.

During her presentation to the county commissioners, Auditor Dalton touched on voter fraud only briefly.

Although it is not being done in Spokane County, it is possible to track mail ballots when in the mail system. But, for as long as three weeks, when the ballots are out of the custody of election officials and the U.S. Postal Service, they cannot be accounted for. Such a lack of control over the ballots constitutes the prime opportunity for fraud. The Florida Department of Elections determined that the No . 1 method for election fraud was the criminal abuse of mail ballots.

Mail ballot fraud can be perpetrated through such methods as mail tampering, voter intimidation and fraudulent registration. The laws that protect the voter and the ballot during poll-site voting are not enforceable with mail ballots. Such fraud is often viewed by election officials to be within tolerable margins. Given the 2000 presidential election and Washington’s 2004 gubernatorial race, such a stance is unacceptable.

Meanwhile, with mail ballots there is an increased risk of invalidating legitimate votes. Every ballot that is processed through the mail requires a signature authentication by comparing the signature on the mail ballot to the one on record. In most courts in our country a professional opinion by a document examiner who is certified by the National Association of Document Examiners or other professional organization is required for the validation of a signature. Local elections officials are experts on many areas of the voting process, but they are not handwriting experts. A friend of mine was disenfranchised because his signature had changed over time.

It is time to address voting reform in Spokane County, and that we must come to a cost-effective solution. But the perception of savings should not override the integrity of the ballot box or voter choice.