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One would be hard pressed to find an issue that has inflamed passions more in the last 18 months than voting regulations.<\/p>\n
But those laws and processes are at the heart of an extensive research study that has been undertaken by the League of Women Voters of Warren County.<\/p>\n
The League is targeting a fall\/winter release to the public as efforts currently focus on refining positions on issues including voter registration, voter ID, early and mail-in voting and the use of drop boxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mission is to help the public to become educated to vote,\u201d<\/span> Phyllis Wright said. \u201cWe thought this is one of the things we have to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The research commenced in January, and many of the League\u2019s members have been involved in the effort.<\/p>\n These kinds of studies are not unique to the Warren County League. The group once studied fracking while others have explored criminal justice reform, prison reform, and health care issues.<\/p>\n \u201c(We) picked voter rights because there is so much out there right now,\u201d<\/span> Sally Beckerink said.<\/p>\n And timing also played a role in it.<\/p>\n \u201c(We) had just come off an election,\u201d<\/span> Beckerink said, with a \u201cvery important one coming up. The timing is good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n They hope to have elements of the study ready for public consumption in advance of the fall election.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s a working document, a series of consensus statements would support current voter registration policies and call for automatic voter registration; support no-excuse mail-in voting and early voting \u201cas useful tools for guaranteeing a citizen\u2019s right to vote and \u201c<\/span>recommends the use of drop boxes\u201d for those ballots<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t yet such a concise statement on voter ID, but county League President Susan Swab said there is a \u201cvery low percentage of impersonation by ID. The facts don\u2019t show that that\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Wright pointed out challenges that some have in getting ID here given the limited hours of the driver\u2019s license center.<\/p>\n Beckerink stressed that \u201cour whole goal\u201d<\/span> was to ensure elections are fair, accessible and secure. \u201cWe want everyone to be able to vote.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The recommendations are responses to partisan political issues but that\u2019s not at the heart of the League\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n \u201cWe always stress we\u2019re non-partisan,\u201d<\/span> Swab said. \u201cThat\u2019s probably our biggest point that we always have to make.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Wright said the League strives to bring \u201cthe issues and facts\u201d<\/span> forward \u201cas we best (can).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at some of the resources in here, none are as negative as we thought they would be,\u201d<\/span> she said. \u201cAs we studied this, most of it truly was written to benefit the citizens. It was information to benefit this mission.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think if you look at the sources, we tried to avoid opinions and stick to statistics,\u201d<\/span> Beckerink said. \u201cWe really tried to make it non-partisan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n One such example, Wright explained, is the use of drop boxes in other states \u201cfor years\u201d<\/span> without \u201cany problem.<\/p>\n She acknowledged the League couldn\u2019t explore all of the issues relative to voting laws. \u201c(We) thought these were the most important to get individuals to vote,\u201d<\/span> she said. <\/p>\n
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