[EL] : Absentee balloting question; postmarks, et al

[Hersh, Eitan]

Hi Colin,

A few graduate students and I gathered data on this in 2012. We have a working paper available here
http://www.eitanhersh.com/uploads/7/9/7/5/7975685/early_vote_v3.4.1.pdf

Figures 3 and 4 include Iowa-specific graphs.

Hope that helps!

Eitan

Eitan D. Hersh
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Yale University

Phone: 203.436.9061
Office: 77 Prospect Street, C120
Web: www.eitanhersh.com




From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Colin C. Smith
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 3:22 PM
To: 'law-election at uci.edu'
Subject: [EL] : Absentee balloting question; postmarks, et al

Election Law Listserv:

I'm wondering if anyone on this listserv might be able to point me to some research (statistical or otherwise), that sheds some light on the following issues:


(1)   What demographics in the electorate tend to vote earlier rather than later? Particularly when it comes to voting by mail.  Relevant metrics could include race, age, socio-economic status, or party affiliation.  Are white Republicans more apt to vote by mail closer to Election Day, or are young black Democrats more likely to vote closer to Election Day, etc.?  Any numbers on this?



(2)   Currently, Iowa prevents mail-in absentee ballots from being counted if they are not postmarked prior to Election Day.  Unfortunately, the USPS often does not postmark the business reply-type envelopes containing these mail-in absentee ballots.  This causes some ballots that arrive "on time" to be left uncounted.  Do any other states have similar issues?  If so, how do they deal with this problem?


(3)   If it is impossible for a state to compel the federal USPS to postmark mail-in absentee ballots, how else might a voter be able to "time stamp" their ballot when they deposit it in the mail?  In other words, how does a voter show they deposited the ballot in the mail on time without relying on a postmark that may or may not be placed on their ballots?  Any creative ideas out there?


I would appreciate any replies.

Thanks,

-Colin

COLIN C. SMITH
Attorney at Law
Nyemaster Goode, P.C.
700 Walnut, Suite 1600
Des Moines, IA 50309
Phone: #(515) 283-3190
Fax: #(515) 283-3108
ccsmith at nyemaster.com<mailto:xxx at nyemaster.com>
www.nyemaster.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nyemaster.com_&d=AwMFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=M_s5d34vsWKlItzAugBNd_WAqHUQRegekiAgS053VQg&m=EmTjwAnZy5J6UHSdUKBh_ONqB4sGezdTjX-Mr3HHSHE&s=pLHgAEt2xX3oLuqhTxMXC3lKQnDuo4SAwnJCdrksBfA&e=>

[2012]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nyemaster.com_UserDocs_pages_2012.logo.emailindd.jpg&d=AwMFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=M_s5d34vsWKlItzAugBNd_WAqHUQRegekiAgS053VQg&m=EmTjwAnZy5J6UHSdUKBh_ONqB4sGezdTjX-Mr3HHSHE&s=56yeZoI3p2AyU8KFr9ytewj0NCXvpbTeVEqMTXpzv_4&e=>

NOTICE:  This E-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510 et seq., is confidential and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.  Please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error, then delete it.  Thank you.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20150312/a83ef3a4/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3344 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20150312/a83ef3a4/attachment.jpg>