Hello Loyal Readers,
First of all, let me make everyone here feel a little old. With one exception, I have voted by mail-in ballot my entire voting life. I was able to vote at a polling station once for the 2004 primary just as I turned 18. Since then, every place I've lived has had universal mail-in balloting. I am a big fan. I feel it allows more people the flexibility to find time to vote, and to make informed decisions about who they are voting for. It also provides an additional set of data as to WHEN people make their electoral decisions.
Behold the chart.
Feel free to click on it to make it larger. This chart I made shows how many ballots arrived at the Whatcom County auditor's office each day starting on the Monday after ballots arrived. Each line represents a different demographic of voters (can't share what they represent, sorry,) but this is everyone who voted, I promise.
The thing that jumps out at me is the relatively flat procession until that last weekend. I always thought the first weekend would offer a big bump of ballots. I thought voters who were energized about their candidates would quickly fill out and turn in their ballots, but that didn't seem to happen this year. There was a surge in the second weekend, which makes me envision lots of parents hunkered down at the kitchen table with their voters guides while their kids whirled around them in a Halloween-candy induced tornado. But the main conclusion is while we have the option to vote on any day of that three week window, most people choose to wait till the last minute. Just like if we had a polling location.
Comments by Readers
John Watts
Nov 10, 2011Yep, you made me feel my age, again.
I like the all-mail ballot, too, but it seems voting old habits don’t easily change.
People wait to see what will happen up until the last minute because sometimes that really matters. Or, they may see voting as akin to paying taxes, which doesn’t usually happen until the due date. Or, they use the time to check with others on choices of candidates.
Now, what would help voting the most would be getting the tallying done quicker so results are known without undue delay & speculation.
Eventually, what we will need is an Instant Runoff Voting [IRV} system where second and third choices are also registered to facilitate decisions, as necessary, on runoffs - whether primary or general.
Couple that with a bomb-proof electronic ballot, plus meaningful incentives to vote, and we finally enter the 21st century in style.
Paul deArmond
Nov 10, 2011People wait because the political process is almost completely devoid of information. Most voters are spending more time and effort deciding what TV they are buying than who they are voting for. And it’s not surprising, there’s more abundant information about consumer goods than there is about politics.
If you want a belabored example, just look at what passes for political reporting in our local Coupon Gazette, er, Herald.
Voters are mere consumers of a product that neither informs nor gathers consent. Mail-in voting only increased the uncertainty.
And Riley, get off my lawn. Darned kids these days…
Wendy Harris
Nov 10, 2011Riley, the voting trend you described sounds identical to how people file their taxes. The people who expect large refunds file earlier, and everyone else waits until the last moment.