Posted by
Steve on Monday, October 16, 2006 2:02:24 AM
Voting by mail has sure made voting easy. It used to be that only those that were not going to be present in the voting area were allowed to vote by mail. Then, you had to use special adhesive dots. That was much more difficult than voting by mail today.
Today, I just had to color in a line between two large black lines. Once I connected the two large black lines with a line from a roller ball pen or a #2 pencil, I was done. It was easy to register each individual vote. Now voting in Arizona this year took some time, as there were a ton of ballot measures this year.
Voting by mail has changed the parameters of elections. It used to be that there was a last push just prior to the election. Every candidate had to get the message out in the last few days. Now, my vote has been cast. Any candidate sending his/her message to me is wasting his/her effort. There is no way for me to tell them that is the case. My wife and I both received ballots. I have voted. She still has to vote.
Candidates that send my wife information are still sending it to a voter that has not voted. Candidates that send it to me are sending it to a voter that has voted. That is a dilemma. The best way is to still send the information and hope the person is still undecided.
I received some campaign literature on the Senate race this weekend. I was appalled at Jim Pederson's lowering himself to lie about Jon Kyl. In order for Jim Pederson to have any issues, he has to lie about Jon Kyl. If he tells the truth about Jon Kyl, Jon Kyl would win with 90% of the vote. He has to try to fool voters into voting for him. What a shame that he has to do that. There should be some rule that you have to tell the truth in a campaign. There isn't a rule and shouldn't be a rule. It just makes me angry to see a good man's good name be dragged through the mud in a campaign.
Just for the record, I voted for Jon Kyl, Jeff Flake and liberty. Liberty means I voted against all the ballot measures that would put additional restrictions on Arizonans.