Fair and Seen to be Fair

19 September 2005



Carter-Baker Commission Calls for US Election Reform

George “Nero” Bush clearly won the 2000 election, goes the joke – 5-4 in the Supreme Court. Until then, Americans believed (probably naively) that their votes not only counted but were counted. In a radical change, many now don’t think the votes that go into the machines have anything to do with what comes out. To address this, former president Carter and Bush family fixer (meant as a compliment) James Baker III, have managed a commission on US electoral reform that reports to Congress this week. Now, if Congress and the state legislatures will just listen.

The Associated Press got hold of a copy of the commission’s report, which has 87 recommendations. As reported on CNN, foremost are:

  • Congress should pass a law requiring voter-verifiable paper audit trails on all electronic voting machines.
  • States should require voters to present photo IDs and offer free photo IDs to those who don't have drivers' licenses.
  • The presidential primary system should be reorganized into four regional primaries, held after the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. A regional primary would take place each month from March to June.
  • All "legitimate domestic and international election observers" should be granted unrestricted access to the election process, within the rules of the election.
  • News organizations should voluntarily refrain from projecting any presidential election results in any state until all polls have closed in all states but Alaska and Hawaii.
  • States should prohibit senior election officials from serving or assisting political campaigns in a partisan way.
  • States should establish uniform procedures for the counting of provisional ballots, which voters can use when there are questions about their registration.
There a some here that are clearly vital such as the paper trail and voter ID cards. Others are less clearly useful, such as news organizations voluntarily refraining from making projections – a 24 hour voting period with a common, nationwide start and finish would end that requirement. Some merely increase the potential for political shenanigans; who is a “legitimate” observer and who isn’t, and who decides?

However, the real issue is that American democracy isn’t fair and isn’t seen to be fair. Some of the unfairness is inherent in a federal system that elects a president in an electoral college. Yet, some of it is due to plain cheating to get the result certain powerful cabals want. The latter is far more corrosive to the political system, and it is these abuses that need fixing most. Now, legislators must lead.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
Produced using Fedora Linux.

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