Former Oregon Secretary of State Phil Keisling Urges All States to Adopt Vote-By-Mail

In a New York Times editorial, Keisling, along with former Washington State Secretary of State Sam Reed, argue Oregon's system of voting should be adopted across the country.

Voting Center Express (Motoya Nakamura / Multnomah County)

Former Oregon Secretary of State Phil Keisling—with his Republican counterpart in Washington state, former Secretary of State Sam Reed—penned an op-ed for the New York Times on Sept. 19, arguing that all states should adopt Oregon and Washington's system of sending out ballots through the mail.

In the piece, entitled Voting at Home Will Help Save Our Democracy,” they use the term “vote at home,” instead of “vote by mail”—because as Oregonians know, voters can drop ballots off at libraries and other locations. (Many voters do—especially those procrastinators who wait until election day to drop off their ballots.)

Keisling and Reed argue the system increases turnout, creates a more secure voting system and even saves money.

It also brings out voters who wouldn't otherwise cast a ballot.

"When every voter receives — and a lot more cast — a ballot, the more democratic we make our society," they write. "When more of us participate, we're better able to hold our politicians — and ourselves — accountable.

"Let's get vote-at-home in place in all 50 states," they conclude. "It's not the only solution, but it's an important one to help revitalize our democracy, which for far too many Americans has devolved into a spectator sport."

The op-ed dovetails with a bill introduced last month by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) to require paper ballots in all United States elections, to avoid computer hacking.

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