Voting in Oregon: Calm, Collected and Done Right

PORTLAND, Oregon -- Oregon is the only state in America that has vote-by-mail. It was established in 1998 and is by almost all accounts a rousing success. It has helped to increase voter turnout and participation while giving confidence to voters that their votes are counted and do matter. The mail in ballots allow voters time to research candidates and positions more than they would without the ballot as a handy reminder. People can review them at their leisure and have around two weeks to get them in. Of course, many still wait until the last minute, leading to lines at ballot drop boxes.

I was one of them. I filled my ballot out last night and dropped it off today at a drop box near my house. Not because I am lazy, of course, but because I wanted to wait to decide on some local races. I decided months ago whom I wanted at the top of the ticket; it's the less publicized races I wanted to know more about. The race for who will take on Republican Senator Gordon Smith in the fall. The race between Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick has drawn national attention. Senator Smith is one of the most vulnerable incumbents in Washington.

Sure, we could have a bigger turnout; what state wouldn't prefer that? But we don't have to worry about hanging chads or having our votes counted by Katherine Harris or having Ken Blackwell try to keep us from voting if we are minority or poor. Oregonians have confidence in our Secretary of State and our vote.

Some always decry the Oregon voting method, saying it is wide open to fraud and abuse. To date there has never been a case of voter fraud proven as a result of the vote by mail system. First, the ballot itself provides a built-in paper trail. Second, the signatures on the ballots are verified by real people with real eyes and signature recognition training. Third, we in Oregon have trust in our vote.