Issue Position: Vote-By-Mail

Issue Position

The Constitution Party of Washington stands opposed to Vote-by-Mail. As Secretary of State I would work to replace this system by re-instituting Poll Voting.

While attempting to make the case for prohibiting large donations for or against ballot measures during the three weeks before an election, the State of Washington and Attorney General Rob McKenna have successfully made our case against the "vote-by-mail" system. The state argued that the law prohibiting large donations in the last three weeks prior to the election was necessary because under the state's "vote-by-mail" system, many voters …

What about elections for public office? A candidate could be caught in a scandal and drop out of the race a week before the election, but thousands of people might have already voted for them. Then there's the fact that "vote-by-mail" favors big money and the better funded campaigns. As opposed to merely needing to peak on Election Day, a campaign now needs to peak three weeks prior to Election Day, then maintain that peak for three weeks, thus requiring more advertising and more mailers.

On December 29, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled on this issue:

"It is true that some voters may choose to vote early, and they may not learn of some large contributions until they have already voted. The state certainly has an interest in assuring that all voters, including those who vote early, have the information they need to make informed choices. Voters who cast their ballots while the campaigning is still in full swing, however, make a voluntary choice to forgo relevant information that may come to light in the final weeks of the campaign. The state's interest in ensuring that these voters -- the number of whom has not been identified -- are maximally informed is therefore a weak one. It is outweighed by countervailing interests, including the right of ballot measure committees to raise and spend funds, the right of individuals to contribute funds to ballot measure committees and the interest of the voting public in the messages that those committees may convey in the final weeks of the election."

According to the ruling, a ban on donations to PACs would have to be limited "to a time more carefully calculated to reflect the current time necessary to gather and organize and disseminate the relevant information about contributions and contributors that the government legitimately seeks to convey." This would logically apply to problems arising with candidates as well.

Anecdotal evidence has also shown that there is a great opportunity for fraud with Vote-by-Mail, as there is no way to verify that the person voting the ballot is the person for whom the ballot is intended, or that during transportation the ballots are being handled in a secure manner, or that they will not be lost, stolen or damaged in the process.

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