Voter turnout in California’s mail-ballot primary was off-the-charts. That’s a far more important story than waiting a week for results.
Phil Keisling
Washington Monthly Contributing Editor Phil Keisling is a former Oregon Secretary of State (1991-99) and a former chair of the National Vote at Home Institute.
Posted inPolitics
The Smart, Targeted Tax Cuts Democrats Should Champion
Instead of being fiscal scolds and rejecting the renewal of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, the party ought to limit them to middle-and-working-class Americans.
Posted inFeatured, Political Animal, Politics
Who Is Really Voting?
Why you shouldn’t trust exit polls—and why the 2020 electorate is much older than you think.
Posted inJanuary/February 2017, Magazine
How to Bring Home Democratic Voters
Universal vote by mail is the most effective way to boost turnout among young and minority voters.
Posted inPolitical Animal
Which Republicans Have the Courage to Stand Up to Trump?
Edward R. Murrow, Ralph Flanders, and Joseph Nye Welch all called out Joe McCarthy more than 50 years ago. Will any in the GOP do the same this year?
Posted inPolitics
The Measure — and Mismeasurement — of Universal Vote by Mail
In three U.S. states—Oregon, Washington, and Colorado—the traditional polling place is now extinct. Every registered voter instead receives his or her ballot in the mail about two weeks before election day. Voters can return their marked ballots with a 49-cent postage stamp, or personally deliver them to special ballot drop sites. Fraud and other electoral […]
Posted inJanuary/February 2016, Magazine, Politics
Why Vote by Mail is Better Than Early Voting
To grasp the true power of universal vote by mail, it’s important to recognize that the act of voting is a four-step process. Step 1: Voter registration. (In every state except North Dakota, eligible citizens must separately register as voters to qualify to receive a ballot.) Step 2: Connecting voters with ballots. Step 3: Marking […]
Posted inCover, January/February 2016, Magazine, Politics
Vote from Home, Save Your Country
Universal vote by mail can revive the franchise and change the political map. So why the resistance?
Posted inPolitics
The Most Effective Voter Suppression Strategy: Requiring Polling Places
As a former Oregon Secretary of State (and chief elections official), I’m glad the courts have invalidated or postponed various voter suppression laws cynically cloaked as “election fraud prevention.” Yet in winning these hard-fought battles, voting rights advocates are losing the much larger war – and most don’t even realize it. In 48 states, there’s […]
Posted inPolitics
The Tax Debate We Want and Need
President Obama has now given the Congressional “super committee” his plan for “Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction” that would trim $3 trillion from projected deficits over the next decade. But whether one believes the plan is “fair and balanced,” a modern version of a “Class Warfare Manifesto – or something else entirely- let’s get real. […]
