KR: Voters support making voting process easier, poll finds

[Pirate Smile]

Voters support making voting process easier, poll finds

BY BANKS ALBACH

Knight Ridder Newspapers


WASHINGTON - As Americans in several states vote Tuesday, a new nonprofit group is pushing to make the process easier.

Some 62 percent of Americans want Congress to achieve that as well, according to a poll released Monday by the group, Whytuesday.org. Some 57 percent favor casting votes over a 21-day period, and 56 percent support voting by mail.

Most voters, 74 percent, are content to keep voting on Tuesdays, however. That disappointed Whytuesday.org, which thinks that moving Election Day to weekends would produce higher turnout.

Congress selected the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as Election Day in 1845. Lawmakers didn't want to interrupt religious ceremonies on weekends and saw Monday as a travel day in a still-rural America when courthouses could be far from home.

But modern voters are time-pressed on busy workdays, so voting on Tuesday seems archaic, said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who conducted the survey along with the Tarrance Group, a Republican firm.

"Elections really haven't kept up with the modern economy," Lake said.

Other notable poll results:

more at

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/13106343.htm

[bluestateguy]

1. 51% oppose making it a national holiday

That sucks.

Oh well, it might not work anyway. Wal Mart would just have a big sale, and of course, make all of their employees work.

[leesa]

2. Why should it be a national holiday? It's easy to vote. The polls are

usually open long hours. You can vote by mail in advance if there's a problem. Your employer has to pay for up to two hours for you to vote if it conflicts with work schedules. If people don't vote it's because they are too lazy too do it or plan for it.

[sabra]

3. Americans want voting practices to change, poll reveals

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051108/NEWS09/511080370/-1/NEWS

Americans want voting practices to change, poll reveals


WASHINGTON - Results of a bipartisan poll released yesterday, the eve of Election Day, found that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed think the American way of voting needs to be changed, but no majority emerged in favor of weekend voting.

Polled from Sept. 27-29, 1,000 adults were asked by the Tarrance Group, run by Ed Goeas, a Republican, and Lake Snell Perry Mermin/Decision Research, led by Celinda Lake, a Democrat, for their opinions on various proposals for changing the way the nation votes.

Since the election of 2000, when the Supreme Court in effect decided George W. Bush had won, various commissions have made proposals for change, including requiring photo IDs, voting on weekends, and holding voting open for two days instead of one. In 2002, the major reason given for not voting was "too busy/schedule conflicts."

In all, 57 percent said they liked the idea of drop-by voting, with voters able to cast their ballots within a three-week window at designated polling stations. Also, 56 percent said voting by mail was a reasonable proposal. Forty-nine percent said they favored providing all workers with a half-day off or paid leave to vote. Only 31 percent favor online voting, and 46 percent said they would go along with establishing a national voting holiday.

[moose65]

4. I agree change is needed

In this day and age, why are we restricted to voting in a single day? And why is that day on a Tuesday? I think I read that the historic reason for Tuesday elections was that back in the old days, people had to travel great distances to get to the polling places, and the powers-that-be didn't want people having to travel on Sundays in order to reach the polls on Monday, so Tuesday was designated as Election Day. Of course now, that isn't a problem. Elections should be held on a weekend, or Election Day should be a national holiday. No questions asked. I have voted early in the last few elections and I like that process as well. One other thing... why in the world do we have to elect presidents and congress in November? I know that in the northeast and upper midwest, it can be very cold and even snowy on election day. Wouldn't September be better? Summer's over, everyone is back to school/work, and the weather is still good. Of course, these things would increase voter turnout..... we can't have that, can we??

[MostlyLurks]

5. I'd support a results moratorium as well.

Before the advent of mass media, people would wait days to know who had won, and the country never collapsed as a result. I'd support a moratorium on results reports until at least 8am the next day, so as not to influence West coast voters with East coast predictions. I also think a lot of the 2000 messiness and confusion could have been avoided had the networks and other outlets been gagged for about 16 hours.

Mostly

[cybildisobedience]

6. uh.....did anyone ask about electronic voting?