Portland State Magazine Fall 2019

15 Traffic, bad weather, sick children, work schedules—none of these stand between Oregon voters and their ability to exercise the most fundamental of their constitutional rights. And the system clearly boosts turnout. The 2018 midterm elections set a new, national record. But had the rest of the country matched Oregon’s level—and Colorado was even higher—another 25 million Americans would have voted. IN 2020, Oregon’s won’t be the only state holding a full “Vote at Home” presidential primary; joining us will be Washington, Colorado and Utah. All voters in a dozen California counties, representing more than half the population, will also enjoy such a system—as will all Hawaii voters in the 2020 general election. While every other state can and should eventually adopt the same model, that fight will largely need to wait until state legislatures’ 2021 sessions. But meanwhile, Oregonians can encourage our out-of-state friends, relatives and colleagues to use “Vote at Home” ballots (aka “absentee ballots”) during the 2020 primary election cycle and beyond. That will be hardest in the 18 states—including Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Virginia and Texas—that still require a legally valid excuse (e.g., an “absence” from one’s home county) to receive a mailed-out ballot. But in the remaining 28 states, obtaining a “Vote at Home” ballot is as simple as merely asking for one. Many of the “no excuse” states also happen to be among the top battleground states in 2020, including Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. And what better time to introduce voters to this somewhat foreign concept: “What, I can make the polling place come to me, rather than having to go to it?” AS EXPERIENCE in Oregon proved, even fiercely resistant voters have come to quickly embrace this system—much like the main character in that famous Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham . We can certainly further improve Oregon’s system. Colorado, for example, has far more full-service “Vote Centers” where voters can go to update their registration or get other assistance up through Election Day. Still, after 20 years and more than 200 million mailed out ballots, the system has produced no meaningful fraud—and lots of voters who feel they have the time and means to cast a more informed ballot. When more voters participate in a primary election, they’re a lot more likely to vote in the November general election. Just 60% of eligible voters actually cast ballots in 2016. Regardless of which candidate prevails, wouldn’t 70% or even 80% turnout in 2020 be healthier for our small-d democracy?  Phil Keisling championed the state’s vote-by-mail system when he was Oregon Secretary of State from 1991 to 1999. He recently retired as director of the PSU Center for Public Service, but he remains a senior fellow of the center. Today, Keisling works for the nonprofit, nonpartisan National Vote at Home Institute, which he helped found. The institute is dedicated to ensuring the security of elections and putting voters’ needs first.