We have to pay to vote by mail?

A Bad Deal for Cuyahoga County Voters 2

I received my absentee ballot last week, and found that for the first time I have to pay to mail the ballot back with my 64 cent stamp.  Was this part of the deal that Fitzgerald struck with Husted over not sending out absentee ballot request forms?   We have already expressed how this was a bad deal for the Cuyahoga County voter, but it gets worse.  We save money if a person votes by mail over going to a polling place and voting on election day. Why can't we pay to get a voter to return their absentee ballot?  I know that the post office charges around $1.20 for postage paid mail, but that is cheaper than employing a poll worker for 16 hours and all the processing and transportation of those ballots.  It is better for voters to vote by mail over standing in a long line at the polling place or feeling that their government is broken by witnessing polling places opening late or poll workers not understanding provisional ballots.  We believe that any barriers to voting should be minimized in order to encourage the other half of the population to actually participate.  Going out and finding a 64 cent stamp or wasting two stamps on a ballot is a barrier for the fringe voters.  Help people vote with free return of the ballot to the board of elections.

Brian Davis
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A Bad Deal for Cuyahoga County

Husted and Fitzgerald Strike Deal that Harms Cuyahoga County

The deal announced today between County Executive Ed Fitzgerald and Secretary of State Jon Husted is bad for Cuyahoga County voters and unnecessary.  Fitzgerald agreed not to mail absentee ballot applications to voters in the next month and the state would pay to send out ballots to all of Ohio in 2012.  Cuyahoga County Council members must be upset that they all went out on a limb and then got sold down I-71 by their County Executive. They all agreed that this was important for voters and then they got notification in 2012 instead.  It is more likely that a resident would forget to apply in the off year of 2011 to vote by mail than in the Presidential election of 2012. The only benefit is that Cuyahoga County tax payers save the expense of the mailing, but we lose a great deal. 

It is another blow to home rule.  Fitzgerald was afraid of lawsuit, but that suit would have never been successful.  Plus, there are advocates gathering signatures to put the voting bill on the ballot, which would have made the lawsuit moot.  Didn't Fitzgerald learn anything from elementary school?  You have to stand up to bullies or they will just continue to push you around.  We better not have lines at the polling places this fall or Fitzgerald is in big trouble.

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.