A candidate’s perspective on vote-by-mail
On my first day at Morehouse College, Jessie Jackson led a voter registration drive for all the freshman enrolled at the consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities that make up the Atlanta University Center -- Morehouse, Spelman, Clark, and Morris Brown. Over 2,400 students registered. It was one of the most significant moments in my college matriculation.
That day in 1985 came to my mind the instant Gov. Phil Murphy announced New Jersey's recent municipal elections would be Vote-By-Mail only. What we've learned since is the process has many flaws. The Governor's decision was out of concern of COVID-19. Precaution and safety were required. I believe the Governor made the right decision. But choices also have unintended consequences. In this case, it was the impact on senior citizen voters, first-time voters, and any individual who needed assistance to get to a mailbox or local post office.
The flaws in the system were recognized. Less than 24 hours after the May 12 election the Governor announced changes to the July primaries. Instead of Vote-By-Mail only, every municipality must have at least one polling place where residents can drop off ballots. He extended the time for ballots to arrive from 48 hours to seven days. These moves are a step in the right direction. But the process from filling out ballots to sending them off needs to be revisited.
Getting the ballots to residents promptly was an issue. The method of filling them out was confusing and dropping them off required transportation unless you trusted your postal carrier to take your ballot out of your mailbox. In my household, we have four registered voters: me, my wife, and our two eldest children who attend college out of state. My wife's ballot arrived first, on April 24. My ballot arrived two days later. My daughter, Elizabeth's ballot came three days after my ballot arrived. My son, David Jr.'s ballot appeared a day after his sisters. I should point out we had to send David his ballot to Savannah, Ga., because he was still in school.
Since this was a first-time experience, my wife and I decided to fill out ballots together. The process was not easy. You fill out the ballot with all the candidates, then fill out an envelope the ballot is placed in before filling out another envelope for the envelope with your actual ballot.
Imagine you're a senior citizen with lousy eyesight living in a senior facility. Because of COVID-19 visitors are not allowed in your building. Because of social distancing, your neighbor can't help you.
We need a better process. It starts with timely delivery of ballots to households, ballot delivery to apartment buildings, and a way to retrieve the ballots from those without transportation. If the ballot is too large for a mailbox, where does the postal worker leave ballots? Visual evidence from apartment buildings showed ballots interspersed with bulk mail. Is it fair to require any individual to sort through bulk mail and other ballots to find their own ballot?
We need to consider extending the time for ballots to be returned. We definitely know 48 hours is not enough. Media reports indicate seven days may not get the job done, either. The right to vote is a citizen's weapon to make change. The first time I used mine, it elected a first-time Senator to the Georgia legislature named John Lewis. My vote counted.
Imagine if it had been Vote-By-Mail?
David Cummings is the Montclair 4th Ward Councilor-Elect and a Montclair Democratic County Committee (MDCC) District Leader.