Electorate of One

22 December 2008



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Time for America to Elect All Senators

If Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State by the US Senate, her senate seat will fall vacant as a person may not serve in both the legislature and the executive. Under New York's constitution, the governor will appoint someone to serve out the remainder of the term, and several people are not quite campaigning for the job including Caroline Kennedy. This is preposterous for a democracy in the 21st century; a special election is the only reasonable way to fill such a seat.

When the constitution of the US was first drafted, each state's legislature selected the two senators. With the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, direct election of senators became the law of the land. Part of that amendment reads, “When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.”

Thus, the states can decide their own rules for filling vacancies, and the state legislatures may allow the governor of a state to appoint a senator to serve out a term. Yet simply because the federal constitution permits it, the appointment of a senator isn't necessarily a good idea. Indeed, it may make for political silliness.

As the country and world have seen in Illinois, the vacancy brought on by President-Elect Obama's resignation has allowed Governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly to offer the seat in exchange for political campaign contributions – effectively selling the seat. In Alaska, the conviction of Ted Stevens on corruption charges raises the possibility of Governor Sarah Palin appointing herself to the senate to further her political ambitions.

In New York, Mrs. Clinton is still the junior senator, and she won't resign her seat until she is confirmed as Secretary of State. Yet, everyone in the Empire State believes it's a done deal. Thus, the lobbying of the governor has begun. Does Caroline Kennedy have sufficient experience? Should Nita Lowey, who stepped aside to let Mrs. Clinton run for the seat, get her turn now? Would Andrew Cuomo be the most effective? All of these are legitimate questions.

What is not legitimate is a system that essentially creates an electorate of one. Governor Patterson seems to be a decent man, a good public servant, and he has done his best in difficult times since he rose to the office with the resignation of Elliot Spitzer. Frankly, the state is is pretty good hands compared to others in the union. That does not, however, mean that the one man one vote principle should be taken to mean the governor is the one man with the one vote.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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