vote by mail

When Oregon first went to vote by mail, I was grouchy. I missed the nerdy thrill of standing in line and voting in the musty basement of a church with others from my neighborhood; I liked the sense of civic togetherness. But now that we're several years into it and I've seen the trouble other states are having I think everyone should switch to vote by mail. Nobody in Florida would have to wait SEVEN HOURS to cast an early ballot, only to have someone lock the door on them. Ballots could be cast from the couch! Or a desk or table, or anywhere but at the end of a line designed to make you give up and not vote after all. Vote by mail means you never feel rushed, you've got the time to get it right. Here in Portland the mailing deadline has passed, but I can still vote in any library, the elections office, or other designated dropping off points.

It's pretty straightforward. First comes the voter's guide, then a few days later the ballot. All of these pictures are from 2008, but it's the same every time.

Instructions for filling in ovals, in case you need it. If you screw up, you can call the elections office and get a new one. If it's too close to the deadline for them to mail you one, you can go down to the office and pick one up.

The ballot goes in a secrecy envelope, which is separated from the envelope with the voter signature on it.

Then you put it in the mailing envelope.

Doesn't this look fancy? Like it should play a trumpet fanfare - Hail to the Chief, maybe? If every state switched to Vote by Mail, maybe the USPS would be saved!

the ballot is invalid without the signature of the voter, which goes on the back of the envelope. All the envelopes are color coded by district, I believe. (NERD ALERT: I think it would be fun volunteering to sort ballots or whatever they might let a properly vetted volunteer do.)

No offense McDonald's, but I don't want to vote with you. (The ballot box is actually a drive through secure drop that is not actually IN McDonald's, but right by their drive thru.)

Still, it's library voting all the way for me! Although I didn't get mine in today, the library is closed tomorrow and I don't want to wait until Tuesday. Maybe this year I'll drive it over to the election office and use their drive through. (somehow less sketchy than voting at McDonald's.) These boxes are picked up regularly by elections officials and taken to the main elections office.