It’s all about the V-chip

Early and mail-in voting began here in Colorado on Monday, and according to the Secretary of State’s office, by the end of the day more than 10 percent of active, registered voters had cast their ballots.

This is sure to increase in the next two weeks, with more than 60 percent of the 3.2 million eligible voters requesting mail-in ballots – and the deadline to request one in person is Friday.

We could get even more ballots in even earlier by answering the question on every voter’s mind: What’s in it for me? How about earning a free pass on the campaign ads that are also guaranteed to increase over the next two weeks?

Here’s my plan, simplicity itself: Whenever you go to your voting center or turn in your ballot at the courthouse before Election Day, you get that cute little “I Have Voted” sticker. What if each sticker had a unique code number printed on it? When you get home, you punch the code into your TV and the V-chip that parents never actually use to protect their impressionable offspring becomes the Vote-chip and automatically blocks all political advertising until 11:59 p.m. Nov. 3. Imagine watching the latest installment of “Sunrise Earth” – or even an SUV commercial – while your neighbors are bashed over the head yet again by candidates bashing each other yet again.

In addition to the obvious beauty of not having to sit through the slime that has zero chance of influencing your vote once it’s cast, this system would also require county clerks to acknowledge receipt of mail-in ballots by sending out codes. This could be done by e-mail – there’s already too much paper involved in this year’s mammoth ballot – but wouldn’t it be reassuring to know that your ballot wasn’t stuck on the floor mat of a postal truck?

People, we have the technology to do this. And in four years, you’ll thank me.

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