Kaine: Make voting easier
Clement Britt / Times-Dispatch
Governor Tim Kaine is proposing changes to Virginia’s election law to make absentee voting easier.
-- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed legislation yesterday to allow no-excuse, in-person absentee balloting in Virginia -- a step he said that effectively would allow early voting in the state.
Kaine described the measure as "a good-government bill" with "a fraud-free environment."
Current law offers prospective voters 17 reasons for casting an absentee ballot, whether in person or by mail, over a 45-day period ahead of an election.
About 500,000 Virginians cast absentee ballots ahead of the Nov. 4 election -- 321,743 of them in person. On Nov. 1, the last day to vote absentee in person, some people stood in line for six hours at Richmond's City Hall.
The absentee ballots were among 3.7 million votes cast in Virginia in the presidential election.
"By allowing all voters to cast an absentee ballot in person, we can remove some of the practical barriers that prevent people from participating in the democratic process," Kaine said during a news conference at the state Capitol.
Twenty-six other states allow voters some period in which to cast a vote in advance without stating a reason, according to Kaine's office.
In Virginia, the no-excuse proposal has been introduced previously and killed by a House of Delegates subcommittee controlled by Republicans.
"Voting is easy," said Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick, R-Prince William, noting current law allows Virginians many excuses to cast absentee ballots. He said he is concerned that the no-excuse feature might lead to fraud.
"Voting is a responsibility, it should not be like shopping the Internet," Frederick said, emphasizing that he was speaking for himself and not on behalf of the Republican Party of Virginia, of which he is chairman.
Del. Mark L. Cole, R-Spotsylvania, chairman of the House committee that handles voting issues, said registrars last year complained they would have to add staff and increase their costs if the measure passed.
Under the Kaine proposal, voters would continue to have a 45-day period to vote early and would cast ballots at their registrar's office.
Kaine said momentum from the presidential election, which spurred a record turnout and record number of absentee votes in Virginia, plus the fact that House of Delegates Republicans have decided to allow recorded votes in subcommittees, improves the bill's chances in the General Assembly session that begins Wednesday.
A subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee killed the measure without a recorded vote last year, after it passed the Senate 31-9.
The League of Women Voters, the Virginia Electoral Board Association, and the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia back the measure.
Kaine said the proposal could save money, because election officials wouldn't have to buy new voting equipment to accommodate heavy voting on Election Day and won't have to hire as much staff to work at the polls.
Dels. Rosalyn R. Dance, D-Petersburg, and Robert H. Brink, D-Arlington, will sponsor the measure in the House. Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, is the Senate sponsor.
Kaine dismissed criticism that early voting might lock a voter into an unfortunate choice because of late-breaking news detrimental to the candidate.
"Voters who go to vote early only go when they've made up their mind. If they're still trying to decide, they don't," he said.
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or
.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
I am impressed by people who seem to think that by putting others down in a dialogue, this makes them appear right or intelligent. Indeed, it only makes them appear oafish. Very interesting that it appears some people cannot post comments without putting others’ intelligence or experience down. If we have not known young people who are far more wise and knowledgeable than those who are older, our experience is quite limited.
As for racist comments and online etiquette, if the statement spoke to you (or you or you…), perhaps it bears pondering.
Fair 77 - thank you for the lecture on posting etiquette.
It is perfectly fine to characterize someone as young or naive, especially when their comments illustrate it. If anyone wants to gloss over their true feelings, they should feel free to consider a career in politics.
I made the comments about democrats and election fraud. Using a Lexus-Nexus search, you’ll find democrat election fraud outnumbering republican election fraud by an order of magnitude. Do you think there wasn’t monkey business by democrats associated with Al Franken becoming a senator? If republicans found votes in the back of a car a day or so after an election that were over 90% in favor of a republican candidate, democrats would have gone sub-orbital. There isn’t even the appearance of a fair election in this case. This being the most recent example.
Please, if you’re asleep at the switch, that’s fine; but, spare me the lecture on “respecting others”. You’ve seen worse in these forums. It’s plenty curious that you picked my post rather than the insinuation that “someone’s hood was showing” which is a far more inflammatory statement than being “young and naive”.
Let’s all reconsider the racist statements being made.
Regarding “black controlled Richmond” - you may wish to recall that it is the legislators (primarily Caucasian old men) who control the districting and therefore the legislation for their districts. It’s called gerrymandering. There seems to be an impression that African Americans are in control of Richmond; if that were the case, would we not see more African American representation and decisions made which benefit the city citizens? And if we did, would that be so wrong? African Americans are not the only ones who voted for Kaine and so are not the only reason he is in office, but he would be a fool not to listen to and represent them - or any other group of Virginia citizens.
Virginia is a state consisting of many people from many areas - European (i.e. Caucasian), African American, Hispanic, Balkan… Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and any number of other groups. Do we not all wish to be represented fairly, regardless of background?
First, the #2 rule on this site is “Respect others.“ It is important that we avoid name calling and use actual documented facts. It is understandable to feel strongly about one’s opinion; it is not okay to belittle people and say if they disagree with you they must be young or naive. It would be interesting to know where the person who states ‘Democrats have perpetrated more voter fraud than all other parties combined’ acquired that information, and if there was a second and/or third source to back it up. Just as that person states others’ information is probably slanted, perhaps his/her information is as well.
Second, the original reason I signed on to comment was to state that the purpose of the proposed legislation is to ensure that ALL voters can exercise their right to vote, regardless of party. This includes, of course, the military. Indeed, there are BOTH Democrats and Republicans in the military, just as there are BOTH Democrats and Republican Christians. People tend to forget that and automatically assume that if you are military or Christian, you are going to vote Republican. In fact, we could note that it was the Republicans who voted to enable subcommittees to vote down legislation without documentation of who did the voting down. It is an underhanded way to go about things, and I trust members of ALL parties (Democrat, Republican, Green, etc) wish our legislation to be as transparent as possible; i.e. don’t allow a government representative to act as if he supports legislation his constituents say they desire, and then turn around and vote it down secretly in subcommittee because some big money group is in his pocket.
Third, on the topic of fair legislation, there is a current push by the League of Women Voters and many other community organizations to set up more fair voting districts. Currently we have districts set up so grossly and specifically only to maintain those who have been in office for years. The League supports a committee with equal parts Democrat and Republican to create new districts in order to ensure ALL are represented fairly, and they support doing it - if possible - before upcoming elections. This is not naivete; it is what we SAY our legislative process is to be about, and so we should welcome the change, though there may be some initial discomfort. By the way, the League of Women Voters is BI-partisan. They have both Republicans and Democrats (and Greens, etc) in the group, and they encourage active participation of ALL citizens. That includes supporting the inclusion of ALL absentee votes, period. As more citizens are included in the rosters, there is more chance of fraud; interesting, though, we don’t hear concern about fraud with voting machines and a desire for a paper trail. This is of concern to many citizens in Virginia and nationally. They are legitimate concerns. Citizens should always question and take action. It is the only way our system can work the way it was designed to.
Ah Randy, Either you’re half blind or pushing an agenda. There are plenty of stories about Republican voter fraud. I’ll push some links:
*http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4992730.ece
*http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/20/local/me-fraud20
*http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/14/politics/main649380.shtml
*http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fraud18-2008oct18,0,1216330.story
I might not have your fancy lexus-nexus search access but I do have Google. Google is kind of effective, especially if your searches aren’t used to bolster your personal opinion that has no basis in provable fact. The truth is voter fraud occurs everywhere and on the same level, all over. Your personal bias not withstanding.
This really is a moot point. Back to the subject at hand…lengthening the time allowed to vote isn’t going to increase fraud. At least not more than voter fraud already occurs. Your argument is ringing a bit hollow.
Maybe you’re just a bitter old Republican? Enjoy the next four years!
Since we’re going tangential here…Olberman is the man! He skewered Bush on his various anti-constitutional laws, actions, and infractions. That guy had the testicles to get up and say what needed to be said. We need more patriots like him. A patriot who will say the right to Habeas Corpus is sacrosanct. We will not kidnap people from foreign countries to hold in foreign jails without trial. The U.S. does not torture like a 3rd world dictator. U.S. citizen’s have a right to privacy that shall not be violated. Yeah, Olberman said all that. Disagree?
i dont know gov. kaine,,i might have voted for MCCAIN,,using your 45 day rule,,but think goodness i figured out that mcinsane was trin to put a pig w/lipstick in the W/H,,to save himself many a trip to the Red Light district,,
Hey Tim,
Please make sure you Dems make it easier for the military absentee votes to count, cause we all know how much your lawyer buddies always seem to find a way to “reject” them. And I wonder why? lol
JackCrowX. Yes I am cynical - I am not as quick to drink the Kool Aid as you apparently are. If you’re not suspicious of politicians and their motives, either you’re not old enough or you’re remarkably naive or you’re just a democrat partisan (which means that your idea of an “unbiased” source is most likely talking points from Media Matters, ACORN, MoveOn.org and Keith Olberman - I trust you’ve signed up for their daily e-mail newsletters).
While I cannot find any instances of Keith Olbermann or Rosie O’Donnell reporting on voter fraud and, chances are, you wouldn’t be satisfied with any source I gave you (considering we’re working with YOUR definition of “un-biased”), please feel free to do what I did and run a Lexus-Nexus search using the terms “Voter Fraud” or “ACORN”. Seems, in support of Barack Obama, ACORN managed to sign up thousands of people who’s registrations had to be thrown out due to multiple registrations of the same person to include dead people. In addition, they managed to falsely register Tony Romo and Terrell Owens in Nevada. Expand your Lexus-Nexus search to include “Voter Fraud in Ohio” - give me a call in October when you get done reading it all. Anyone who has been paying attention to the news should be very aware of everything I’ve listed.
Here’s a tougher challenge for you. Crack open a history book and have a look at the widespread voter fraud in the Chicago area perpetrated on behalf of John F. Kennedy (the democrat) against Richard Nixon (the Republican). Finally, have a look at the 2000 election when the democrats, completely un-aided by republicans, in one Florida district, crafted a confusing ballot which resulted in Pat Buchanan getting about 1,500 votes.
Sorry, but, when you do a comprehensive search, you’re just not going to find Republicans or Libertarians engaged in voter fraud anywhere on the order of magnitude as democrats do.
Gosh, MeToo, remind me next time not to agree with you. I wasn’t attempting to do your thinking for you. Anyway, things will go from bad to worse since neither party is the answer.
While you’re at it, Tim, how about making it more fraud-proof?
Post a Comment(Requires free registration)
- Please avoid offensive, vulgar, or hateful language.
- Respect others.
- Use the "Flag Comment" link when necessary.
- See the Terms and Conditions for details.
Advertisement