No “cure” for defective ballots
I’m dismayed to learn that Washington County Commissioners Nick Sherman and Electra Janis voted against curing mail-in ballots for minor errors.
There is absolutely no valid reason for this. I’m sure Sherman and Janis will give some tired lines about preventing voter fraud, despite the fact there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Washington County. This policy can lead to voter disenfranchisement.
It appears to be a violation of a voter’s rights to allow two people in a county to arbitrarily decide whose votes can and cannot be counted. Can you imagine the uproar if a gun license was denied with no chance of correction because a date was missing? Why would the most important right a citizen can have be subject to the most stringent bureaucratic rules?
Many of those using mail-in ballots are people of advanced age. The very conditions that require them to use a mail-in ballot could also cause them to have difficulty following the unfamiliar rules of preparing a ballot. Do people with vision issues or who have slight cognitive decline not deserve a vote?
The purpose of mail-in ballots is to make it easier for the frail or incapacitated among us to exercise their constitutional right to vote, not to insert additional hurdles for getting their votes counted.
Sherman asked, “When do we draw the line on procedure? That’s my issue. You gotta draw the line somewhere.” Well, in a democracy, the line should be drawn to err on the side of the voter.
Dan Colilla
Washington