The Time For Early Voting In Rhode Island Is Now
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Long lines at the polls were just one aspect of the voter issues during Rhode Island's 2012 elections.
As one Common Cause Rhode Island volunteer Keela Potter reported from the Juanita Sanchez Complex in South Providence on Election Day,
By the mid [day]-shift I noticed a rather extensive line start to form (nearly out the door by the dinner hour). By the evening shift people were waiting up to 3 hours just to vote. I have never experienced anything like it. I had many people express deep frustration about the situation and many of these people didn’t have time to wait in line for 3 hours, and instead just decided not to vote.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLong lines like those many of us experienced on November 6th should not be tolerated. Following the 2012 election, Common Cause Rhode Island set to work researching effective policies in other states, producing a report documenting and assessing problems with the 2012 general election, and advocating for new legislation to ensure that lines like many voters experienced at Juanita Sanchez don’t happen again during the next election.
Among the legislation that will help alleviate the problem of long wait times are House Bill 5565 sponsored by Rep. Chis Blazejewski and Senate bill 553 sponsored by Senator Erin Lynch, which establishes a system of in-person, early voting, as adopted by 32 states and the District of Columbia. By allowing voters to cast ballots in-person, prior to Election Day, our goal is to 1) decrease voter disenfranchisement by making the voting process more accessible to qualified voters and 2) decrease the pressure on individual polling places, especially during high trafficked voting periods, like after work.
We believe that in-person, early voting is a better alternative to expanding the use of mail ballots, which have been subject to more documented cases of actual fraud and are less likely to be counted. Additionally, early voting will allow election officials to determine prior to Election Day that a large turnout may occur and enable them to prepare in advance.
In-person early voting is not a panacea. We need to rethink the design of our ballot, purchase new voting equipment and systematically address how the whole process contributes to significant waits; just like has been done at the DMV. Common Cause will work on those problems, too.
If you believe, like we do, that we have a responsibility to decrease voter disenfranchisement and proactively discuss solutions to improve the accountability and transparency of our state government, we invite you to contact your elected officials and let them know that you stand behind early voting.
We also invite you to join us tonight, Tuesday, April 23rd, at The Congress Tavern at 6pm for a happy hour discussion. Co-hosted with Rep. Blazejewski, New Leaders Council, Democracy Matters, Planned Parenthood Young Professionals, Ocean State Action, and RISD Votes, the event serves to bring together Rhode Islanders for a discussion about increasing access to voting and next steps in passing the proposed early voting bill.
This event is free and open to the public. More information can be found here.
Common Cause Rhode Island is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, good government group promoting representative democracy by ensuring open, ethical, accountable, effective government processes at local, state and national levels by educating and mobilizing the citizens of Rhode Island. John Marion and Caroline Mailloux serve the organization as Executive Director and Associate Director, respectively.
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