Overview of Early Voting Consensus
The League's legislative program consists of those governmental issues that the League has chosen for concerted study and action at the national, state or local level.
Before the League can take action, members must agree in broad terms on what they think about various aspects of the policy issue. The nature of the issue will affect how it is studied and how positions are reached. The board usually selects the method to be used: consensus (where agreement is reached using League responses to specific questions) or concurrence (where agreement or a vote on a pre-stated position is required).
The technique most often used in the League for reaching member agreement is consensus by group discussion. It is not a simple majority, nor is it unanimity; rather it is the overall sense of the group as expressed through the exchange of ideas and opinions, whether in a meeting of the full membership or a series of smaller discussion meetings.
The early voting study was submitted by the Greater Kansas City League of Women Voters (LWV- Kansas City, Clay, Jackson, and Platte Counties) and approved May, 2009 LWV + Missouri State Convention.
A State Committee was established, co-chaired by Cheryl Barnes and Donna Hoch.
The scope of the study will be the methods of early voting for the purpose of a way of removing barriers, improving access to voting and increasing voter turnout. This includes early in-person voting, no excuse absentee voting/vote by mail.
Currently, Missouri allows only absentee voting-excuse required. To vote by mail, voters must apply for an absentee ballot and complete a form, checking one of five acceptable reasons why they will not be able to vote on Election Day. To be counted, all mail in absentee ballots must be notarized. In-person excuse required absentee voting is allowed 6 weeks before an election at the local election authority's central office. Permanently disabled individuals may request to be placed on a list to receive an application for each election. The application is automatically sent between 5 and 10 weeks prior to election. In November, 2008, Missouri had 323,776 absentee votes cast (11.1%).
Some questions to consider: WHY?
- Why do 31 other states offer some form of early voting and not Missouri?
- All of Missouri's contiguous states, with the exception of Kentucky, offer early voting . Why?
- Is one day, considering Missouri's November weather, give voters enough time to elect officials responsible for a $23 billion dollar budget?
- Is more flexibility in Missouri `s entire voting process in order?
- Does the single Election Day voting opportunity represent a barrier to voting?
- Why do Missouri's voting adults need an excused absence from election officials?
The rationale for voting on the first Tuesday after the first Monday was established in 1845 when the United States had a farm-oriented workforce. Farmers often needed a full day to travel by horse drawn vehicles to their county seat. Tuesday was selected as it did not interfere with the Biblical Sabbath or with market day, which was on Wednesday in many towns. However, according to the U.S. EPA (Ag 101) there is less than 1 percent of the U.S. Population of 285 million that claim farming as their principal occupation. We are now looking at this legacy of our political past and considering new options that meet the demands of a modern, mobile society that is tech-savvy and asks for convenience because of work and family demands.
In the 2008 election over 30% or the electorate cast ballots before the traditional Tuesday Election Day.
33 states allow no-excuse absentee voting by mail and/or no excuse in-person early voting.
16 states and the District of Columbia require an excuse absentee voting
1 state is all vote-by mail
Source: electionline.org analysis of state law, state election web sites
No excuse absentee voting allows a person to vote in person or by mail without a required excuse.
Early in-person voting allows a person to vote in a booth at a polling location set up before Election Day.
Voting by mail allows a person to request a ballot be sent and may send the ballot back by mail.
Definition of No-excuse Absentee Voting: A voter requests that a ballot be sent to him or her by mail regardless of whether he or she has an excuse for not voting in person on Election Day. A voter receiving such a ballot may: 1) turn it in by hand or mail, or 2) vote in person at the designated absentee voting location
- Thirty states offered no excuse in-person early voting in 2008.
- Twenty-seven require no excuse to cast an absentee ballot.
- The average length for no excuse in-person early voting was 21 days +a low of six days in Georgia and a high of 42 days in Idaho.
Concerns/Cons of Early and No-Excuse Absentee Voting
Five concerns are usually mentioned when opposing absentee-no-excuse voting.
1. Coercion: Although coercion is prohibited by law, without the secrecy of a polling booth and the physical presence of election officials enforcing the rules, protection is lacking.
2. Fraud: Early and absentee voting increases the opportunity for voter fraud. Proponents of the fraud argument believe that fraud is much more widespread than is currently known or reported and that it will increase with no-excuse absentee voting.
3. Security: Mail-in techniques rely on unsecured modes of delivery. Ballots can be lost or damaged in the mail or not delivered on time or to the right person.
4. Secrecy concerns: A ballot that arrives in the mail cannot be cast with the same protections as those cast in a polling booth, i.e., with public officials present to ensure that the ballot is cast freely and secretly.
5. Opportunities for error. Opponents believe that early and absentee voting open the doors to greater opportunities for error. In 2008 more than 7,000 ballots were not counted because they were not notarized or received by the statutory deadline.
Other Concerns mentioned are:
Speed--as the absentee process grows, concerns over delays in counting absentee ballots have also grown.
Ceremonial Aspects of voting as a Nation--Voting before the Election Day via Absentee, which is done for convenience, reduces or eliminates the ceremonial aspects of voting +coming together on one day and doing your civic duty.
Voter remorse is also a concern. If persons vote early via absentee ballot and some critical event occurs late in the campaign that would have caused them to change their vote, they could have regrets.
Increased costs--the cost of printing two envelopes per vote and postage to and from the election office must be considered along with the staff time required if there is a large increase of people voting Absentee.
Benefits/Pros of No-Excuse Absentee Voting
1. Allows the voter to be in charge of his/her voting experience. The voter decides when he/she is going to vote.
2. Improves convenience for established voters. Flexibility is valued in this modern mobile society where work and family demands compete with fulfilling your civic duty.
3. Decreases barriers to participation that confront current non-voters and could increase voter turnout.
4. Gives people more time to study their ballot and vote on lengthy, complicated issues and crowded candidate fields. Many voters find contests and measures on the ballot that they were not expecting when they walk into the voting booth.
5 Benefits:
- voters who live in rural areas
- voters who do not consider themselves disabled but find standing in line fatiguing,
- voters with transportation issues, and
- voters who do not know where to go to vote
6. Eliminates problems with ballots being cast in the wrong precinct and reduces provisional ballots--as voting is done by mail or at the centralized location.
7. Does not restrict the voter to one location and one day to vote.
8. Could reduce lines on Election Day and could reduce cost- fewer number of polling places and poll workers needed
In-Person Early Voting
Definition of Early Voting: Voters complete and cast a ballot by placing it in a tabulating machine or other receptacle at a polling location early, just like they would do on Election Day. Ballots are not necessarily counted immediately. No Absentee application or envelope is required.
Concerns/Cons of Early Voting
1. Increased early and in-person absentee voting might discourage party workers in mobilizing voters to go to the polls on Election Day, thus reducing overall turnout.
2. Political Campaigning could be affected as they deal with an election period instead of an Election Day. The "end game" of intense political activity would stretch over a longer period of time and increase the cost of the campaign.
3. There is little evidence that use of early voting options actually reduce the expenses of an election. The primary concerns reported on the LWV-MO County Clerk Survey were the increase labor and facility costs.
4. Concerns that early voting violates the U.S. Constitution because Federal law specifies a single federal election day as the exclusive day throughout the United States for the balloting for federal office holders. (This was defeated in the courts.)
5. Voter Remorse- if a critical event occurs late in the campaign that would have caused them to change their vote, they would regret their earlier vote.
6. Freedom to vote on other-than Election Day might loosen Americans attachment to one another and to the common purposes of self-government and ceremonial aspects of voting as a Nation and participating in this civic event.
Benefits/Pros of Early Voting
1. Voters like the convenience of early-voting in-person option. There is less paperwork than voting absentee and applying for a ballot.
2. Early Voting removes barriers and allows the voter to be in charge of his voting experience.
3. Early Voting provides the voter with flexibility in deciding when to vote and increases the positive experience they have in voting.
4. Election officials have more time to process incoming ballots and handle the complex issues of running an election.
5. Early and in-person absentee voting occurs in sites under the supervision of election board officials, thus reducing the chance of fraud and coercion.
6. Early voting options may be less costly for the voting jurisdiction.
7. Early voting options may reduce the number of polling-place workers on Election Day.
8. Early voting opportunities encourage greater voter participation, especially in local elections where turnout is often very low.
9. Candidates like early voting because it allows them to focus their mobilization efforts on people who vote and vote early. 13
Sec. of State Robin Carnahan's office created this document, entitled Voters First: An Examination of the 2008 State and Federal Elections in Missouri, which takes a closer look at the common themes that emerged during the February Presidential Preference Primary, the August Primary and the November General Election.
During all three elections, there were no reports of voter impersonation fraud. A statewide voter registration database allowed Local Election Authorities to verify the identity of new voters and ensure clean, accurate registration lists. Questionable registration applications were submitted in some counties but were identified before they were added to the rolls.
In summary, this report finds that Missouri's election system is secure and accurate; yet there is always room for improvement. Increased poll worker and voter education efforts, along with continued improvements to the voter registration system, will increase confidence and convenience for Missouri voters.
In a survey on Absentee and Early Voting, county clerks from across Missouri told the LWVMO Committee working on the consensus study that they have a split opinion of the viability of both early and no-excuse absentee voting.
Forty-two counties responded to the electronic survey, and three county clerks were surveyed in- person by their league members. Clerks showed a clear preference for no-excuse absentee voting over early voting, saying that the high costs for implementation of early voting are the prohibiting factor. This was, by far, the greatest concern among all clerks.
The committee will be providing a brief preview at the Unit meetings in January: consensus study in February, 2010.
In preparation for our EV Consensus Study in February, the following information on "Early Voting in Surrounding
States" may be helpful to better understand the different voting procedures in other states.
The rationale for voting on the first Tuesday after the first Monday was established in 1845 when the United States had a farm-oriented workforce. Farmers often needed a full day to travel by horse drawn vehicles to their county seat.
Tuesday was selected as it did not interfere with the Biblical Sabbath or with market day, which was on Wednesday in many towns. However, according to the U.S. EPA (Ag 101) there is less than 1 percent of the U.S. Population of 285 million that claim farming as their principal occupation. We are now looking at this legacy of our political past and considering new options that meet the demands of a modern, mobile society that is tech-savvy and asks for convenience because of work and family demands.
In the 2008 election over 30% or the electorate cast ballots before the traditional Tuesday Election Day.
33 states allow no-excuse absentee voting by mail and/or no excuse in-person early voting. 16 states and the District of Columbia require an excuse absentee voting
1 state is all vote-by mail
Source: electiononline.org analysis of state law, state election web sites
The following is a summary of the voting procedures of Missouri and the 8 states surrounding us which are Arkansas,
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
Missouri- allows only absentee voting-excuse required. To vote by mail, voters must apply for an absentee ballot and
complete a form, checking one of five acceptable reasons why they will not be able to vote on Election Day. To be
counted, all mail in absentee ballots must be notarized. In-person excuse required absentee voting is allowed 6 weeks
before an election at the local election authority's central office. Permanently disabled individuals may request to be
placed on a list to receive an application for each election. The permanently disabled voters are automatically sent an
absentee application between 5 and 10 weeks prior to an election. The application must be received no later than 5
p.m. the Wednesday prior to an election to receive a ballot.
Arkansas-Absentee voting by mail - no excuse required; No-excuse in-person early voting available15 days before,
including Saturday hours 10 to 4 pm.
Illinois-Absentee voting by mail requires an excuse-you can apply 40 days before election for a ballot. No excuse in
person early voting is available 22 days before the election requiring a valid photo ID and closes the 5th day before
Election Day. Permanent absentee status is not available.
Iowa -Absentee Voting by mail + no excuse required. Voters may vote by absentee ballot in person beginning 40 days
before primary and general elections.
Iowa offers Election Day or same day voter registration.
Kansas-Using an advance voting application, a registered voter can vote by mail or in person before Election Day. The
advance voting ballot can be cast by mail or in person.
Kentucky-Absentee voting by mail-excuse required: in person absentee-excuse required 12 days or more before
Election Day. In person absentee voting adds a few more valid excuses like third trimester pregnancy, voters who
have surgery scheduled that day, and election officials.
Nebraska- Absentee voting by mail does not require an excuse--request forms accepted 120 days prior to Election
Day. In-person absentee voting is open for 35 days before any statewide Election and 15 days before a special
election. Permanent absentee status is not available.
Oklahoma- No excuse absentee voting by mail. Absentee ballot must be returned to the county election board by
mail. You may apply for absentee ballots for one, several, or all election in which you are eligible to vote during the
calendar year in which the application is submitted.
Tennessee-Absentee vote by mail application-excuse required. No-excuse in-person early voting is available
beginning 20 days before the election and ends 5 days before the election. Tennessee has a permanent absentee voting register.
Summary
- 30% of the voters or 39.7 million people voted early in the 2008 Presidential Election compared to 20% in
2004.
- In 10 states, more than half of all ballots cast were cast early (Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New
Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington).
- Ohio and Florida and other states credit early voting with smoother election days
- The absentee/Early vote count in Missouri and surrounding states in 2008:
Missouri had 323,776 vote absentee (11.1%)
Kentucky had 6.3% vote absentee;
Kansas had 428,772 votes in advance (34.7%).
Arkansas had 37.1% vote early with 18.1% being via mail.
Iowa had 36% vote early or 557,333.
Nebraska had 21.8% vote early or 176,946.
Oklahoma had 13% of their voters vote early for president.
Tennessee had 1,550,939 ballots cast early (59.2%)
Do the voters and election officials of Missouri want to see a reform of Missouri excuse-required absentee voting to a method of early voting, no-excuse in-person or via mail absentee voting, or both or neither? The LWV of MO is
asking these questions.
The committee will be providing a brief preview at the Unit meetings in January: consensus study in February, 2010.
Resources:
America Goes to the polls--A report on voter turnout in 2008 Election by George Pillsbury
http://www.nonprofitvote.org/voterturnout2008
"(Nearly) Final 2008 Early Voting Statistics", by Dr. Michael McDonald
http://elections.gmu.edu/Early_Voting_2008_Final.html
Marty Ott, Chair
The early voting study was submitted by the Greater Kansas City League of Women Voters and approved
May, 2009 LWV + Missouri State Convention. A State Committee was established, co-chaired by Cheryl
Barnes and Donna Hoch.
The scope of the study will be the methods of early voting for the purpose of a way of removing barriers,
improving access to voting and increasing voter turnout. This includes early in-person voting, no excuse
absentee voting/vote by mail.
Currently, Missouri allows only absentee voting-excuse required. To vote by mail, voters must apply for an
absentee ballot and complete a form, checking one of five acceptable reasons why they will not be able to
vote on Election Day. To be counted, all mail in absentee ballots must be notarized. In-person excuse
required absentee voting is allowed 6 weeks before an election at the local election authority's central office.
In November, 2008 Missouri had 323,776 absentee votes cast (11.1%). More than 7,000 ballots were not
counted because they were not notarized or received by the statutory deadline.
No excuse absentee voting allows a person to vote in person or by mail without a required excuse.
Early in-person voting allows a person to vote in a booth at a polling location set up before Election Day.
Voting by mail allows a person to request a ballot be sent and may send the ballot back by mail.
Our question is does the single day voting and our current absentee process create barriers to voting?
Would the adoption of early voting and / or no-excuse absentee voting reduce barriers and increase
access to the polls?
To learn more about Early Voting members may go to http://groups.google.com/group/lwvmo-early-votingstudy/
files
Marty Ott, Chair
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League of Women Voters of St. Louis, Missouri. All rights reserved.
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