Jenny Bonilla, writing in the Duke Chronicle yesterday, discovered that Absentee voting frustrates students:

Keith Greenberg was rejected. The freshman's first voting experience, in Florida's August primaries, was disenfranchisement, and he's one of the few who actually know why.

Greenberg is just one of many students who have faced challenges in the election process. Some students, especially those from swing states like Ohio and Florida, have opted to take advantage of absentee ballots in hopes that their votes will have a stronger impact in their home states than in North Carolina. But many are still wary that their votes might not be counted accurately.

In the wake of the 2000 presidential election, the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project found that between 4 and 6 million votes were lost due to a variety of problems including voter registration mix-ups, faulty voting equipment, confusing ballots and polling place problems. Several students have reported that, in their experience, these problems seem far from cured.

Greenberg's absentee ballot for the Aug. 31 primary was thrown out because he did not include a photocopy of proper identification with his vote. Not only did he fail to receive notification until late September, but the state also did not include any instructions directing first-time absentee voters to include a copy of proper identification. The law requiring that "you must make a copy" of such information just went into effect this past January. ...

There doesn't appear to be any criminal intent in Florida behind the problems. Nor at Duke, where slow mail processing may be to blame for the delays some students have experienced receiving their absentee ballots.