Go, Zappini!

Jason Osgood has been thorough and unrelenting in his work on behalf of election integrity in Washington State. He has looked at the issues from the technical and evidence-based perspective. If anyone was going to catch a detail like this -- that would be him~

And you're right, he's made a difference. But not only on the issue of 100% vote-by-mail ... His work has been on behalf of election integrity in general. 'Private voting and public counting' might seem an obvious ideal. But voting technology and procedures have been changing rapidly in a volatile political environment -- and both sides of this ideal, the privacy of the vote and the public nature of counting, have been eroded.

Recently Jason's research, presence at meetings and equipment tests/demonstrations, information requests, letters, presentations, etc. helped to demonstrate and publicize that King County's "reckless plan" to adopt all new scanning, sorting and counting equipment for the 2008 election is, just that -- reckless. I believe his input helped lead to the County Council's recommendation to King County Elections (KCE) to NOT go ahead with the plan. Unfortunately, KCE has decided to ignore the recommendation of the Council and go ahead with it, anyway. This is a huge disappointment. A huge risk. And I hope KCE reconsiders.

As for 100% vote-by-mail, Zappini's not the only person from "the left" who opposes it. I do, too -- as do others who have commented on Washblog. All-mail voting's supporters often claim, as if the evidence is in, that 100% VBM increases 'turn-out' -- the number of people who vote. That claim is not evidence-based. In fact, it looks like the opposite may often be true.

Jason cites this article in one of his recent stories:

"Will Vote-by-Mail Elections Increase Participation? Evidence from California Counties", Thad Kousser, U. California, 2007. This is the most in-depth review article I've seen on the topic.

I consider 100% VBM to be less secure, less community-powered/community-based, and -- at a time when we need to increase political engagement -- less empowering for people.

I was reading an article on Vietnam and decided to google an former Edgewater Eagle.. Your quest triggered the tears.. What a nice memorial to your brother.. Hope you are well.
would be nice to hear from you..
Marijane Cole
Edgewater 71
Swim Team