How To: Increase Voter Access, Voter Participation, Vote Security, Voting Ease

Today is Election Day!

The 2018 Mid-Term Elections are NOW underway!

Which brings us to another point:
With the proliferation of confusing and contradictory laws varying from state-to-state, often-unnecessary voter purges, voter suppression efforts, disenfranchisement attempts, and often outright intimidation, it makes perfectly good sense for Congress to step up to the plate, and take control of the 50-state hodgepodge patchwork mishmash voting-related varieties to establish National Uniform Voting Standards.

They certainly have the authority, as evidenced by the various laws concerning voting, including the 15th Amendment, 19th Amendment, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (aka Motor Voter), and others.

Now, they should act!

There are MANY excellent examples we could follow, including mandating a minimum of 3 hours Paid Time Off (PTO) on Voting Day, with no negative repercussions for employees who vote.

National Uniform Voting Standards should include:
• Early Voting period of 15 days, anywhere in county of residence
• Paid Time Off (PTO) minimum 3hours, with no employer repercussions
• Minimum 12-hour Open Polls on Election Day

• Improved, and Mandatory Automatic Voter Registration – high school officials should offer/provide student registration; annual Federal Personal Tax Returns could be part of that process; mandate Motor Voter

• Use of Optical Scan ballots (it’s difficult to electronically hack paper)
• Voting By Mail
• Improved Absentee Balloting, including no-excuse-needed

• Early Voting
• Voter ID (if required, type acceptable, etc.)
• Uniformity of voter list purges

Research recently published in the Election Law Journal titled “Cost of Voting in the American States” measured the ease, social, and fiscal cost of voting in 33 states by examining the law and measures in 7 key issue areas from 1996-2016 and found great disparity among the states not only in ease of voting, but in fiscal costs as well.

“Cost of Voting in the American States”
Election Law Journal
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/elj.2017.0478

Examples of the hodgepodge mishmash conglomeration of Absentee and Early Voting in all 50 states

Absentee and Early Voting
National Conference of State Legislatures
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx

State Laws Governing Early Voting
National Conference of State Legislatures
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/early-voting-in-state-elections.aspx