Democratic elections have two defining characteristics:
1) Citizen oversight and public control of governmental functions: The entire voting system is open to citizen oversight and control.
2) Checks and balances: The entire voting process has checks and balances through transparent and observable processes and procedures.
These are the two simple tests for democratic elections: citizen oversight and checks and balances.
Community-based Elections
These two tests for democratic elections dispel the smoke and shatter the mirrors, revealing the profoundly undemocratic nature in 21st century election reforms.
New Hampshire today has a high percentage of ballots counted by computerized optical scanners. Nonetheless, it retains a stubborn tradition of grassroots democracy. New Hampshire politics have a uniquely familial feel with elections, held at the local level, run by elected members of the community. Community members volunteer to help out at the polls, often refusing financial compensation.
New Hampshire's publicly observable manual recounts are accessible and financially feasible. The official NH Election Procedure Manual (4)
Anyone can come and watch the casting of ballots and the counting of ballots and see for himself or herself whether the election is conducted in accordance with the law...The public trust in elections, sometimes referred to as the legitimacy of elections, relies in part on elections being conducted in the open.
Activists observing the community-based nature of our elections have been known to remark that "maybe democracy really does work in New Hampshire!"
And truly, where New Hampshire ballots are hand counted, democracy is working; it is an integrated facet of community life, and every ballot is publicly counted and observable.
Walter Holland, Lyndeborough town election official (5)
"All of these (hand counters) are local volunteers, they are neighbors in our community, and it's important that they handle the votes of their neighbors, because it's sacred. It's an important thing to be able to vote in a democracy, and you handle each one of those votes with care, and you count it as best you can."
Walter instructs his ballot counters on Election Night
"This is one of the most precious things you can do, is to handle your neighbors' votes. And they are a precious thing in this democracy, so handle them with care, and make sure every vote counts. And be sure about what you're seeing, and those that are observing and counting, make sure we get some true counts here."
New Hampshire's problems, like the rest of the nation, occur in the move from community-based hand counted paper ballot traditions into corporate-controlled, non-observable, technology-based elections.
Lobbyist Alchemy and Election Reform
In 1995, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Republican strategist Grover Norquist launched the "K Street Project." (6) Named for the Capital Hill street housing many lobbying firms, the Project gave lobbyists direct access to Washington lawmakers through weekly policy and strategy meetings. The most infamous K Street lobbyist was Jack Abramoff, who worked for the firm Greenberg Traurig. Abramoff, now in prison, took money from his American Indian tribe clients, and laundered it to Congressional Representatives in return for legislative and policy favors aligned with the Project's political agenda.
Abramoff's magic trick was converting client money to election fraud activities.
