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<P>The political stars have lined up on this one: a necessary change to Idaho's
election policy, a good plan to make that change, and a strong organization
dedicated to making it happen.</P>
<P>Idaho Vote by Mail (a non-partisan, Idaho non-profit corporation)
is sponsoring an initiative to allow Idaho voters to vote by mail without
having to request an absentee ballot each year. Now Idaho voters have
to jump through a complicated series of hoops in order to sign up to be
allowed to vote with an absentee ballot. Even worse, voters
who prefer to vote by mail, or who need to vote by mail, must apply
before every election.</P>
<P>The goal is simple enough: to place an initiative on the general election
ballot allowing Idaho voters to choose to automatically receive an absentee
ballot without having to ask for it every year. To place the initiative on
the ballot, 51,712 signatures of registered Idaho voters across the state
must be collected in the next 18 months. </P>
<P>This initiative is strictly limited to creating the permanent absentee ballot
option, not duplicating a vote by mail system like Oregon's. The
initiative just provides that those Idaho voters who want or need to vote by
absentee ballot don’t have to ask for one every year.</P>
<P>I have signed the petition and urge you to do so as well. If you want
to sign, you can download your own copy from their website (<A
href="http://www.idahovotebymail.org/">www.idahovotebymail.org</A>) or contact
the regional coordinator Pete Gertonson at 208-743-1615 or at <A
href="mailto:wahapete@hughes.net">wahapete@hughes.net</A>.
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