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March 20, 2006
Voting by Mail - good sign for direct text message registration?
Interesting article in the economist about by-mail voting – perhaps a precursor to txt-voting. Article summary:
• Mail voting has been sketchy so far – dead people voting and the like
• In 2004, in WA nearly 70% of voters opted to vote by mail
• King County (seattle) is set to go mail only in 2007
• OR is the pioneer – mail only as of 2000
• Advantages
o Can take your time to decipher ballot initiatives
o Don’t have to wait in line
o Convenience turns out voters
Ie: Oregon’s turnout was 87% - highest in the nation
o Cheaper to manage
• Changes the nature of campaigning – extends it over the period of a month – makes it more expensive
• People are annoyed when they have to pay return postage
• Can cause tabulation delays
• Has its faults – but not any more than in-person voting.
Thoughts: wonder if UI of voting by text is feasible – or even desirable – are there too many options? There was that example of voting by text in Switzerland, but it was only on a single issue vote.
If vote by mail is OK – perhaps can be combined with voter registration (equivalent to same-day voter registration). So, citizen could request ballot/registration form via text (or other method), receive it, send it in and vote/register all in one fell swoop. Wonder if Oregon would go for it?
Economist. March 18th. Stamp Of Approval. P. 46
Posted by ben at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)