By: Susan Vaughn

Recently, the Secretary of State for Oregon, Bill Bradbury, wrote an editorial for the “Washington Post” extolling the virtues of Oregon’s vote-by-mail process. For those of you unfamiliar with it, we in Oregon receive a voter pamphlet about two weeks ahead of each election.

The Oregon Voter’s Pamphlet is printed on newspaper-quality paper [very inexpensive] and includes the following:

-- Each candidate running for every office has a page-long statement followed by lists of endorsing groups or prominent citizens;

-- Each issue has the legislative wording proposed, followed by pro and con arguments. The issues being voted on also have endorsing groups and citizens listed under the pro and con statements, respectively.

The voting process takes place over the ten to fourteen days preceding Election Day. It’s become a bit of a family event for my grown son and me to read through all the candidates and proposition issues, discuss them, and check to make sure we each voted the way we meant to – all in the comfort of sitting at the kitchen table.

The ballot itself is simply a page in the pamphlet that you tear out. You mark it very easily with a pen, and there’s no mistaking which arrow points to what or to whom.

Also enclosed with the pamphlet is a “secrecy envelope”, which is a normal envelope into which you put your ballot. Your signature is required on the outside back of the envelope.

Once you’ve completed your ballot and secrecy envelope, there are “drop boxes” throughout town – university campuses, federal buildings, post offices, etc. You can also mail in your ballot.

In the 2004 election, Oregon had an 84% voter turnout.

I was discussing the editorial our Secretary of State published in the “Post” with my son, and we both were wondering why our vote-by-mail method gets so little attention nationally. After this cynical year, I posited that “somebody’s nephew must be making a profit off voting machines”.

My son’s response was even more worrisome than mine. He suggested that it is not in the interest of “the powers that be” to HAVE an 84% voter turnout. Moreover, with all of the information in the Voter Pamphlet, politicians risk having an INFORMED voter turnout. He thought most politicians wouldn’t want to risk it.

Either opinion bodes ill for our country. Let's look at just one state as an example.

According to figures for 2004, collected by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities from statements from government officials, working documents, and nonprofit organizations that monitor state expenditures, Georgia had a budget deficit of $900 million dollars.

When Georgia, a state that hardly has a budget surplus, spends tens of millions of dollars on voting machines that don’t work in the heat, it’s hard to imagine why they wouldn’t use Oregon’s vote-by-mail system.

The estimates on Georgia's purchase of electronic machines range from $35 to $54 MILLION dollars. The legitimacy of the of the 2002 election in Georgia, which first used the machines, was questioned extensively in mainstream newspaper coverage. Video footage from election day 2004 documents poll workers phoning Diehbold technicians for significant numbers of machines failing due to the lack of air conditioning in school polling places, along with Diehbold's non-response. There are still unanswered allegations about a late programming patch entitled "rob-georgia.zip", as well as the discrepancy between exit polls and certified vote counts.

According to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, "Average total 2004 SAT score: 987 (National Avg: 1026) Georgia Rank: 49 Source: GAOSA ...High School graduation rate: 56 percent (National Avg: 70 percent) Georgia Rank: 49 Source: Greene, Jay and Greg Forster, 'Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States.' Manhattan Institute, 2003."

For those of you who have forgotten, a perfect SAT score is 1600. The "Rank: 49" is out of 50 states. One has to ask how the second-lowest ranking state in education has at least $35 million dollars to spend on voting machines that don't work in their climate when only slightly over half of their students are even graduating from inferior high schools.

In contrast, Oregon does not have a deficit, according to similar internet sources, ranks 35th in education nationally, has an average SAT score of 1052, and a high school graduation rate of 88.6%. Both the SAT scores and high school graduation rates are well above the national average. It appears to me that Oregon has its priorities straight.

As a former educational software producer, I think it’s important that we re-examine appropriate uses of technology, instead of being enamored of anything with a touch screen. Electronic voting machines are not an appropriate use of technology. Mark your [inexpensive] paper ballot. There’s your paper trail. And, there are no lines and not much of a wait to report our votes to the networks, since they’re almost always cast prior to Election Day.

What’s wrong with a low-tech, high-integrity approach to voting? As we progress through our discussions of election reform, let’s give Oregon’s vote-by-mail the high profile attention it deserves. Otherwise, we’ll spend months or years of Congress’ time debating national holidays for elections, computer code few people can decipher, and millions of dollars in systems that aren’t nearly as trustworthy as Oregon’s good old pen and paper.

If you have your doubts about Congress being swift and effective in championing vote-by-mail, you can contact your own secretary of state or www.nass.org, which is the National Association of Secretaries of State. Also, Barbara Boxer, the only Senator to stand up against Ohio's electors, has founded a PAC which issues action alerts by email. Sign up at http://www.changethecongress.com to let her know we have cost-effective, low-tech options for a reliable voting system . Since Rep. Conyers led the hearings regarding the Ohio voter irregularities, you can contact him and your own representative and senators by email at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov .

Susan Vaughn is a former teacher, media producer and organizational consultant. She lives in Oregon.