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General News 1/21/2020 at 18:55:36

The Times They Are A Changin' for U.S. Elections

Quicklink Submitted By Steve Schneider (View How Many People Read This) 6 comments

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Election officials from states large and small, red and blue, more rural and more urban, agreed on more than 30 recommendations to make U.S. elections more secure, accessible and accurate. In a report released by the Bipartisan Policy Center last week, the officials backed proposals in three categories: voter registration, casting a ballot and counting the vote. Judd Choate, a participant and director of elections in Colorado, called the effort 'pretty remarkable.' He guides Colorado efforts to make voting user-friendly and secure. The Washington Post, in a May 2018 article, hailed Colorado for being the safest state in which to cast a vote.

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Steve Schneider Social Media Pages:

Steve Schneider lives in Hollywood, Fl. He is learning about issues involving election reform and voting rights. He registered to vote when an election official appeared at a high school class he took senior year. He thinks registering to (more...)

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2 people are discussing this page, with 6 comments

John Zwiebel

(Member since Jun 19, 2017), 2 fans, 1 articles, 343 comments (How many times has this commenter been recommended?)

The article doesn't say anything about voting machines. The areas listed just sound like "feel good" stuff to me. The Bipartisan Policy Center says all states should become members of ERIC which sounds like a slicker why to implement Kris Kobach's crosscheck that disenfranchised thousands of voters. The wikipedia write up of the BPC lists both Republicans and Democrats. You know what I think of the Republicans, but of the Democrats the most prominent is Joe Biden.

IOW, this is a con job.

Submitted on Tuesday, Jan 21, 2020 at 9:04:59 PM

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Steve Schneider

(Member since Oct 8, 2019), 13 articles, 17 quicklinks, 81 comments (How many times has this commenter been recommended?)

Reply to John Zwiebel:

Hey John,

I like ERIC. I joined the push to get my state, Florida, to join. We are now a member. I like it especially because every two years ERIC will give us a list of unregistered citizens who are eligible to register. Florida, as an ERIC member, promises to mail out postcards every two years, including presidential election years, to tell these citizens about easy ways to register to vote.

Estimates indicate there are currently about 4.5 million Florida citizens who are eligible to register. I wrote an article on this at OpEd News. My research indicates about 10 to 12 percent of people getting the postcard will register. That's about 500,000 new potential voters here.

I agree with you about problems related to election machines. I published this link quickly -- it is a quicklink. I intend to do more research.

However, voting at polling stations, at machines, is so last century. Colorado, Oregon and Washington state mail out ballots a few weeks before elections so citizens can vote at home. Colorado also offers its citizens countywide voting centers if they don't want to vote at home. I wrote an article for OpEd News about voting at home.

Part 2 to follow

Submitted on Tuesday, Jan 21, 2020 at 9:42:17 PM

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Steve Schneider

(Member since Oct 8, 2019), 13 articles, 17 quicklinks, 81 comments (How many times has this commenter been recommended?)

Reply to Steve Schneider:

Part 2:

There are some good people out there with good ideas. I eventually plan to write an article about the Center for Civic Design, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that helps election officials communicate clearly with voters and potential voters. Among other things, the Center has expertise in designing ballots so voters can understand them easily.

My state -- Florida -- and my county -- Broward -- have had problems with election officials designing ballots that confused voters and may have led to screwy election results.

The most prominent mistake happened in 2000 when elderly Jewish voters in Palm Beach County -- possibly in the thousands -- voted for Pat Buchanan, who allegedly doesn't like Jews. These voters thought they were voting for Al Gore. The Supreme Court didn't give the election to George W. Bush that year, an ignorant or incompetent Democratic supervisor of elections did. We need smart and organized folks to run our elections and to consult smart people who know how to make the system work well.

Submitted on Tuesday, Jan 21, 2020 at 9:43:57 PM

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John Zwiebel

(Member since Jun 19, 2017), 2 fans, 1 articles, 343 comments (How many times has this commenter been recommended?)

Reply to Steve Schneider:

I hope you are right. While I like the idea of mail-in ballots (and I just received a postcard today telling me that it will be an option in Hawaii for the primary and general) I worry about the ways those ballots might be intercepted or spoiled or incorrectly counted by a scanner.

Personally, I'd like to see Open Source software make this stuff work and take it out of the hands of private companies.

In the mean time, color me skeptical.

Submitted on Tuesday, Jan 21, 2020 at 10:41:47 PM

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Steve Schneider

(Member since Oct 8, 2019), 13 articles, 17 quicklinks, 81 comments (How many times has this commenter been recommended?)

Reply to John Zwiebel:

Hi John,

I am honest about my limits in my OpEd News bio. I am learning about issues related to election reform and voting rights. So, thank you for mentioning Open Source software. This is the first time I have heard about it. I will research it.

I also read that North Dakota doesn't require citizens to register to vote. I will look into that as a way to avoid voter purges, although there may be a reason only one state let's folks vote without registering.

BTW, Michael Bloomberg recently gave Fair Fight Action $5 million. He spoke to the group in Atlanta recently, where he proposed a variety of measures to protect the vote. He ain't my first or second choice, but I'm glad he is showing interest in the issue.

Also, I read about the Kris Kobach effort when I was learning about ERIC more than a year ago. ERIC does give member states information to remove the names of voters who have died or moved out of state. I think these two things make sense.

ERIC also lets members know if a registered voter is registered in more than one voting jurisdiction. This is not illegal; it is only illegal to vote in more than one place. But this notification makes sense to me. And ERIC tells members when a registered voter is living at a new address in the same state.

Submitted on Wednesday, Jan 22, 2020 at 10:48:20 AM

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Steve Schneider

(Member since Oct 8, 2019), 13 articles, 17 quicklinks, 81 comments (How many times has this commenter been recommended?)

Reply to John Zwiebel:

Hi John,

Your reference about Kris Kobach's crosscheck program prompted me to find this online. Items 11 and 12 address the voter disenfranchisement issue you raised.

cdn.net/advancement/1d6cccf4b34b9645da_hdm6i29rp.pdf

Submitted on Thursday, Jan 23, 2020 at 2:59:04 PM

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