Update: Median Lawsuit for public access to ballots: <read>
We have the same concern in Connecticut where ballots are sealed from public access and then immediately shredded.
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We have pointed to the integrity of the Minnesota recounts and audits as models of integrity. We have also pointed to the lessons learned in Minnesota that call into question the idea of a national popular vote and the risks of absentee ballots. Here is an article from the National Journal pointing out what Minnesota demonstrated about absentee ballots which is instructive as we consider expanding their use here in Connecticut: National Journal: Your State Could Be Minnesota -The Disputed Senate Race Highlights Problems With The Way States Count Absentee Ballots <read>
Absentee ballots were “definitely the Achilles’ heel of Minnesota,” said Edward B. Foley, a professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, who predicts that errors in counting absentee ballots could become one of the next big problems plaguing the nation’s election system. (A related trouble spot on the horizon, according to Foley, is the erratic counting of provisional ballots.)
Absentee ballot use rose in the 2008 election, fueled by high interest in the presidential race and anticipated long lines. Nearly 30 states now allow absentee voting without an excuse such as medical or travel reasons. Early voting is also on the increase.
As states have embraced absentee voting, however, reports of problems have rolled in. Voters in Colorado, Florida and Ohio had their ballots rejected because of errors such as failing to include a copy of their ID with the ballot, forgetting to sign or signing in the wrong place, and failing to seal an inner envelope.
