Reply #7: right after the Election, Ohio lawmakers were talking about using Absentee

[KaliTracy]

ballots to "make it easier" -- I didn't know anything about the election except a gut feeling that something was wrong, and that there was disparity in machine allocation and disenfranchisement in Ohio (I had NO wait in my upper/middle-class/mostlycaucasion neighborhood -- it was completely *wrong* for people wait more than an hour to vote when our area happened to have so many machines....etc., etc.)

I have to say, though, that as soon as they said that on the radio, and that they were thinking about passing a law on it, I started yelling back at it -- With Absentee ballots never getting delivered in Florida (something like 50,000 "lost"???) and to college students throughout the nation never receiving their absentee ballots (bernie1 has a lot of that information) I just do NOT trust that my vote -- which is usually on paper that has a political marking -- would actually make it to the ballot box. Call me paranoid, but I don't think that's the direction we want to be headed if we cannot guarantee that a person from each party is present for ALL mail deliveries.... After all that happened in Ohio, I just don't see that as a viable solution. The better solution was NOT to cut machine allocation, NOT to merge precincts, and NOT to fully train poll workers. Absentee voting was brought out as a quick fix too fast for my liking -- I would expect a little more in-depth analysis of what happened, and why. (something which still hasn't really happened.... even though they had a hearing yesterday...)