Initiatives and Absentee Voting

With the appalling number of non-voting registered voters, perhaps now is the time to consider mandating voting by absentee ballot. Would it not be easier for a citizen to mail a ballot than to rush to polls where long lines and time constraints often discourage voting? Elimination of polling sites and utilization of absentee ballots would permit voters more time, deliberation and review of all issues in the relaxed privacy of home, office or factory.

Employees, renters and homeowners could be required to turn in an absentee ballot receipt or be docked a reasonable stipend from salary, rent or taxes. Proceeds could be forwarded to an established homeless trust fund. This would not be a poll tax, but rather a penalty for the right not to vote.

In the light of all of America’s wars, including the pending Desert Shield fracas, it makes no sense for Americans not to vote; the tactic of a penalty seems like a small payment indeed. The utilization of a mandated absentee ballot would preclude any and all non-voting excuses in today’s fast-paced, consumer-driven society.

NATHAN L. CHROMAN

Beverly Hills