Comments On: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)? by Unpaid Intern

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

litlnemo — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:04:10 -0800

Probably no one will see your comment because the post is a few days old, but -- good comment, Dafydd. And I agree. Voting centers, and more of them, are still necessary, even with a mail-in system.

And King County giving up counting so early is ridiculous.
Posted by litlnemo

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

-Dafydd A. — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:20:16 -0800

Back in the old days (4 years ago) I was a poll monitor over on the east side and was surprised at how many people came to the polling place to drop off their absentee ballot. Pierce County expects over 1/2 of all votes will be cast using a ballot drop box and not the mail. There needs to be more voting centers and drop boxes in King County (what about the libraries?) Just because we got rid of polling places does not mean that we should have closed down all election day activities in those places. Many people have need of a replacement ballot (or provisional ballots), having more election day voting centers will make the election process better.

On a related note, did anyone else notice that King County stopped processing votes at 5pm. The webcams showed row after row of empty vote opening tables and the tabulation machines had covers over them when I checked at 5:10 on election day. Obviously the county had more ballots on hand that needed to be processed and there were 3 hours before the "polls" closed, but apparently the County does not think it is necessary to process election results in an expeditious manner. Again I point to Pierce County, they had two election results drops, one just after 8pm an another at 11pm. Can't believe that our little cousin to the south can do a better job of ballot counting.
Posted by -Dafydd A.

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

watchit — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:39:05 -0800

Not only is this a very good point, but even the choices in North Seattle are silly. Lake City is the most diverse & dense neighborhood in North Seattle, spread along the 2nd most busy arterial in Seattle. So King County took that box away & put it beside the off-leash area & surrounded by soccer fields, nestled among some of the least dense & most expensive neighborhoods in all of Seattle (Magnuson, in case you are not familiar with the area).

I'm not sure #23 is accurate. ("Based on use, when money dried up, the drop boxes that were used less were not replaced when some money became available.") In LC, the first all-mail election had the drop at the Little City Hall. I was told by employees there that the tiny office was overwhelmed. Next there was the year that budget cuts eliminated all of them. Magnuson had not even had a box until after that, when they got some more money & started to use them again. How is that based on use? One critera that might explain that is to have good car access, both for drop-offs & the truck that makes the pick-ups.

* Opportunity alert * The state might change to "arrive by Election Day" rather than "postmarked by" mail deadline (like Oregon has). Let's see if we can get - if not more then at least more sensible - dropbox placement folded into that. (It would mean mailers have to put even more trust into the PO. How early do you have to send it to be sure? I've had w/in Western WA mail that took 10 days & I've heard of worse.) I'm not sure, but based on something I heard Sec. of State Smilin' Sam say recently (he's all for the deadline change), I think the state legislature has to OK it. So contact your reps this year, then again early next year if you just got a new one. Keep an ear out for when they start talking about the deadline change & bring it up again then.

Posted by watchit

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

SlogtipperMeredith — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:23:31 -0800

If you think it's a problem, I encourage you to contact King County Elections and tell 'em so:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/abou…

(If you'd prefer to stick with the strawman attacks, have at it.)
Posted by SlogtipperMeredith

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

stating the obvious — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:57:14 -0800

@51 is right. There's no reasonable excuse for this discrepancy. No conspiracy theory is needed here. Just another example of "those people" getting shorted. Totally unacceptable.
Posted by stating the obvious

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

seatownmolly — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 05:20:18 -0800

I do find it odd that we dont have any drop boxes. se seattle is huge. Much bigger than ballard. I am surprised. Most people sound here dont drive and many are poor so much so that bills are paid in person. I like to hand deliver mtg ballot so I know it got there. I think there is a legitimate complaint to be made bc just loook at the map. Why can't se get one? We are huge!
Posted by seatownmolly

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

litlnemo — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 03:29:29 -0800

Just keep whacking at that strawman.
Posted by litlnemo

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

sarah70 — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 00:09:08 -0800

Do any of you who find it really difficult to mail a damned ballot remember that you used to have to actually travel to a polling place to vote? You know, get your body down there, in a car or on a bus, before or after work or school? Apparently you don't.
Posted by sarah70

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

wilbur@work — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 23:02:48 -0800

this is a whole lotta bullshit re: an item which can be dropped into any mailbox for free -- the state has made it clear to the USPS that postage is guaranteed. WTF? If you're too fucking lazy to either get the mail, or check your ballot (but somehow have time to post to SLOG), you suck and you shouldn't vote.
Posted by wilbur@work

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

bleedingheartlibertarian — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 22:01:52 -0800

@46--which part of the constitution?
Posted by bleedingheartlibertarian

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

litlnemo — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:59:27 -0800

Meredith, no need to apologize. I think my post above came out snarky when I didn't intend it to.

Your point #2 is a good one.

I used a dropbox for a similar reason -- I wanted to be darn sure they were going to get it, and preferably before the election. I dropped mine off on Friday, and the ballot tracker shows that they have it today. But I dropped it off while I was down in Renton.

Incidentally, I do have postage here. But the only time I ever use it is for elections, really. Everything else is online!
Posted by litlnemo

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

SlogtipperMeredith — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:01:35 -0800

I'm "Slog-tipper Meredith." Wow, I'm stunned at the racism/classism of a few of the comments here. But anyway, a few things:

1) Sorry, @42, but I didn't see your blog post (didn't know about your blog). I wish I had seen it three days ago!

2) Interesting that no one's saying, "North Seattle must be really fucking stupid if they require THREE drop-boxes -- aren't they capable of putting a stamp on their ballots?"

3) So here's the thing. I'm driving around this morning with my ballot beside me, all ready with a stamp and everything, and I'm planning to swing by the post office shortly, when I hear an elections official on the radio telling people: If you're turning in your ballot today or tomorrow, better to use our drop-boxes and not risk the ballot getting stuck somewhere in the USPS, or having a smudged postmark, etc. "Okay," I think, "I'll use a drop-box, then." So I get home and look up the drop-box locations. Hey, I'm just trying to take the advice of the Elections people. We're perfectly capable of using stamps down here in the Rainier Valley; like the rest of you, we just want our votes to count. Call us names, but it seems like we're entitled to equal access to the polls. And when the region with less access happens to be the region with fewer resources in general, well, that seems like a problem and not a tough one to solve.
Posted by SlogtipperMeredith

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

Supreme Ruler Of The Universe — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:41:36 -0800

If there were more drop boxes, SLOG would come up with a conspiracy theory about how Bellevue Republicans would drive around at night hijacking the ballots.

Get a stamp and mail it.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

keshmeshi — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:44:17 -0800

@26,

I turned in my ballot to a drop box a week and a half ago, and, two days later (the earliest I checked), King County had it in their system. If they were picking up ballots that frequently that early, I'm sure they're picking them up at least once a day at this point.
Posted by keshmeshi

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

Concept: Not everyone has the fucking internet — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:27:40 -0800

Poor people mail the fucking ballots. They've already got the stamps lying around to pay their bills with! Postage < Bus fare. End of story. C'mon Seattle get over your own white-privilege.
Posted by Concept: Not everyone has the fucking internet

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

Call it a moron tax? — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:21:06 -0800

@44 except such a tax would be entirely unconstitutional. Nope, just teach your base how to use their mouths and tongues to seal the envelop and stick on a stamp. I know some one year olds who have that skill set.
Posted by Call it a moron tax?

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

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Posted by Ipso Facto

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

bleedingheartlibertarian — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:10:42 -0800

@35--a tax on political ads plowed into election infrastructure is a fantastic idea.
Posted by bleedingheartlibertarian

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

Where's ma free lunch? — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:07:55 -0800

What, are the people down the rainier Valley so stupid they can't find a stamp and stick it on an envelop? Even the self adhesive type that's doesn't even require any motor functions in their mouths? If they can't figure that one out, do you think they understand the issues?
Posted by Where's ma free lunch?

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

litlnemo — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:00:43 -0800

Perhaps "Slog tipper Meredith" actually read about this in the Beacon Hill Blog three days ago:
http://beaconhill.seattle.wa.us/2012/11/…
Posted by litlnemo

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

Gots me a free fone! — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:58:38 -0800

I love how liberals think conservatives are morons yet worry their base is so stupid they can't figure out how to vote. Go down to Rainier and Henderson and let me know what the Dem's base is doing to find a stamp.
Posted by Gots me a free fone!

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

sperifera — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:56:57 -0800

@24 - Amen, brother.
Posted by sperifera

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

Henry — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:56:57 -0800

@34 Please provide a source for a $.05 non-profit postage rate. "Election officials" already quality for discounted USPS rates but the best discount I could find was $.35, which is still $1.5M a year.

@35 As would I, if it made it easier for those who have real issues keeping them from having their vote counted. I don't consider "I can't be arsed to buy/find a stamp" one of them.
Posted by Henry

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

Mister G — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:53:08 -0800

If you can't afford a stamp, and you're too fucking lazy to find a drop box, maybe this is God's or nature's way of telling you that you weren't intended to vote?
Posted by Mister G

Re: Why Are There ZERO Ballot Drop Boxes in Southeast Seattle (the Most Racially Diverse Part of the City)?

rcres — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:43:27 -0800

I agree with @14. People in the Douglass-Truth Library this morning were looking for drop boxes.
Posted by rcres