America is awash in suspect and stolen elections. Since January, 2001, the nation has been saddled with an unelected chief executive. The consequences have been predictably horrific.
Along the way, three US Senate contests in 2002 and numerous other Congressional and local elections have been subjected to partisan disenfranchisement of qualified voters, and vote counts that smack of theft and fraud.
Even now the primary in New Hampshire is rightly being challenged to do an expensive but necessary recount procedure that could and should have been avoided.
As has been shown in the Free Press and elsewhere through the stolen 2000 and 2004 presidential contests, there are scores of ways by which elections can and have been rigged and ripped off in this new century. And there are scores of cures that can be put forth.
But we believe they can boil down to a basic three:
1. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION, WITH SIGNATURE VERIFICATION:
Since the beginning of the American republic, more than 200 years ago, voters have signed their registration forms, then signed again when they came to vote. Falsifying a signature is a felony. All studies indicate that the number of people who vote fraudulently is miniscule.
In recent years, Republican operatives have attempted to hype so-called voter fraud into a major issue. The Bush Administration has fired nine US Attorneys for their failure to find large numbers of people committing this crime.
Nonetheless, the GOP and its minions in the media have hyped this non-problem into a national crisis, whose "solution" is to demand photo ID at the polling stations.
It's well-known that the impact of this demand would be to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of elderly, indigent, homeless and other citizens, most of whom happen to vote Democratic. A lower court has rightly labeled this requirement to be a "poll tax" which is specifically barred by the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution.
But the US Supreme Court now has at least four members who will vote for anything that serves the partisan interests of the Republican Party. There is a widespread feeling the Court will approve this requirement, with adoption in many states run by the GOP.
During Ohio 2004, and in New Mexico and other swing states, the GOP also found ways to prevent many thousands of voters from registering at all. The list of dirty tricks is too long and insidious to report here. More are being unearthed every day.
The one most likely to surface in a big way in 2008 is the practice of disqualifying voters if the spelling of their name or their middle initial (or lack thereof) somehow varies from the one in the computer-generated registration books. Since the voter rolls in some counties and states have already been privatized, and are being run by partisan for-profit vendors, we can expect widespread, systematic disenfranchisement if this system remains in tact.
Our "Ohio Plan" solution is simple: everyone in the United States should be automatically registered to vote upon turning 18 years old. Forms addressed to election bureaus, with free postage, should be made available in high schools and colleges, at motor vehicle bureaus, social security offices, post offices, union halls, in military recruiting offices and barracks and numerous other locales throughout the nation.
The 3-Step plan proposed is very good but it is not good enough. We audit tax returns. We audit banks. We audit government contracts. When it comes to elections, the core of the democratic process, we "trust" the system.
Step 4 of the plan proposed would be to audit, on a sample basis, all reported returns. If the results look reasonable based on a manual recount of a random sample, no further auditing is needed. If the results seem to contradict the sample we audit, a full recount should be undertaken. Also, larger samples should be required where reported results differ significantly from pre-election polls, exit polls, or where the election's outcome was either very close or had a very significant impact on the overall outcome of the election.
Regardless of what changes are made to the voting process, e.g. multiple days to vote, motor voter laws, paper ballots, or anything else, the results should never be trusted without an appropriate audit function.
Add step four and you just might have a chance of restoring a little integrity to American elections. Now if we could only get candidates who weren't funded by the corporate state.
by
welshTerrier2 (7 articles, 3 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 105 comments)
on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 3:53:46 PM
I think you need to be realistic. California has spent some time evaluating optical scanners of paper ballots. These provide a audit mechanism and are faster than hand counting and can be reliable. There is no reason electronic systems can't be made reliable, we just need to insist on rigorous testing and having a back-up paper trail to audit the system. It is very critical we have confidence in our election system. Hand counting is not perfect either.
The National holiday for elections is good, but let's be realistic 3 days is not going to happen. However, everyone should be given the entire day off on election day. A significant percent of people do not vote on election day because of work. We can have one day off every 2 years to ensure people can vote.
Registration of voters remains a problem throughout the US and every effort should be made to ensure ALL ELIGIBLE voters are registered and can participate in elections. The 60% voting by eligible voters in the US is ridiculous. Every effort should be made to increase this toward 100% in every state. The Supreme Court is likely to approve the voter ID laws, so we need to find a mechanism by which voters can be reistered and get a voter ID card free if necessary. This should be considered a NATIONAL PRIORITY.
Another issue is that EVERY Secretary of State should send to every eligible voter in the state a voters pamphlet that describes every race and every bill that will be voted on in the election so voters have a chance to read over this BEFORE they go to the polls to vote. This is not done in some of the poorer states (like Kentucky) and it is very detrimental to having voters informed before they vote. Sometimes we don't even know who or what we are voting on before we hit the polling stations.
There is one more problem not addressed here that is affecting the voice of the public --Gerrymandering. This is where congressional districts are drawn to faciliate the control of those in power (Republican or Democratic). This makes the congressional races less competitive and results in members having life time political positions. In States without Gerrymandering, Congressional seats are far more competitive. Congressional districts should be drawn with the straightest lines possible, not the system that exists now where Democrats or Republicans can change boundries to sequester most voters of one party into a single district so they can finess a majority in several other districts.
by
Peter Wedlund (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 154 comments)
on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 6:46:00 AM
