Maricopa County Elections Director Endorses By-Mail Voting

A nice interview in today's Arizona Capitol Times with Karen Osborne, director of elections for Maricopa County, Arizona. Osborne addresses the challenges of administering elections when an area is experiencing rapid growth, and attendant problems with new registrations, change in old registrations, administering provisional ballots, and the like.

There is a fairly extended treatment of mail in balloting by Osborne. She calls it the "most secure" form of any type of voting because they check every signature. Of course, one could imagine more secure systems--for instance, you might have thumbprint or retinal scanning, or more realistically, check government issued photo IDs. Surely both are more secure than a signature verification system, which has its own problems (as outlined in our report to the Carter Baker commission).

Osborne also says that Maricopa County may be establishing "mega" voting centers, analogous to the "super precincts" that are under consideration in other states.

The interview seems to endorse by mail voting, although she expresses concerns that campaigns may have to "peak" 33 days before the election.

Story referenced is here:
Arizona Capitol Times