Why Does Absentee Voting Matter?
Oregon, which has the third highest voter turnout in the United States, votes entirely by mail.
Existing voting methods do not drive turnout. In 2004, 71.3 million eligible voters did not vote, and 15.4 million registered voters didn’t cast a ballot.
People are ready to vote long before the election! Pilot programs that allow early voting have found large success in Florida and Texas.
An estimated 814,000 people did not vote in 2004 because of “Bad Weather Conditions.”
Election deciding "swing states", such as Ohio and Florida have voter turn outs with large margin for improvement. (Often 20% lower than Minnesota, which leads the nation in voter turnout.) These currently inactive voters could be accessed through agressive absentee voting drives because both Ohio and Florida allow no-excuse absentee voting.
All facts and figures are derived from the U.S. Census Bureau Study: "Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004"; Issued March 2006; Authored by Kelly Holder.