I have always voted in person at my local voting precinct in Lompoc, except during the pandemic when I mistakenly thought it would have long lines. It did not. Both times, we had mail-in ballots sent to all registered voters in the county. In addition, two booklets were sent to all, including a sample ballot and a booklet with resumés of candidates. So on June 7, I visited my usual voter poll precinct to vote in person after four years. I asked if they needed my new DMV Real ID card and they said no. They asked me to sign my name on a computer screen like you do at restaurants and CVS, so I did and it came out a big scribble. No one could tell just who I was. I received my ballot, filled it out and placed it in a box that was wired closed. My ballot was handled in a piece of brown butcher paper. I was told the ballots would be counted in Lompoc, then shipped with police escort to the county Elections Office in Goleta.
Having taken part in many election campaigns, my experience with registered voter lists is that they are out of date. So, it’s a big waste in costs of mail-in ballots. Instead of sending three pieces of data, a cost savings would be had by eliminating the mail-in ballots or the other two booklets and send just one of something.
Mail-in ballots are slow to read. Each envelope has to be checked to see if the signatures match one on file. So the mail-in system is slower and more expensive than the venerable precinct system. Faster results are possible. At the precinct poll, you sign next to your name in the old system, and your ballot is ready to be counted when you drop it in the box.
The voting system has been watered down and needs change:
• You should have to ID yourself and show that you are the one voting.
• You should have to appear at the precinct to vote unless you have requested an absentee ballot before vote day.
• You should have to sign your name on the voter log book, not on a wobbly computer screen.
• All vote ballot forms should be placed in sleeves until deposited in the vote box.
• Voting should only take place on election day, between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
• We should require voter registration updates every two years.
Reliable voting is what voting is all about. Let’s do everything we can to make its so, now again. Only 30 percent of voters voted in this last election. Is this why?
Justin M. Ruhge
Lompoc
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 7, 2022.