USA Election Reform
Backgrounder
After the election fiasco of 2000, where the greatest democracy in the world failed to give a democratic election, or a dubious one at least, it seemed we desperately needed election reform. Task forces convened, took testimony, and issued reports about what is wrong with America's election system and made recommendations about how it might be fixed. One such task force was the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. In August 2001, the task force published a 13-point recommendation for federal election reform. When I read the report, I rejoiced and looked forward with hope to the Election Reform Act of 2002.
Recommendations of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform
Here were some of my favorite recommendations:
- It was proposed to block media from projecting any elections results so long as the polls remain open anywhere in the contiguous 48 states.
- It was proposed to change Election Day to a holiday, when fewer people work and can easier make it to their polling stations. As it is now, with elections always on Tuesday, most people try to rush to the polling booths after work between the hours of 5-8 p.m. One: there's rush-hour traffic at this time. Two: the lines are long. Three: it may be difficult to leave work early. Four: all of the above create disincentives for the voter to vote. Well, I think a holiday was maybe a bit too much to expect, but a Saturday or Sunday would be in the same spirit. In France, elections are always on Sunday and I observed eyewitness that their voting booths aren't as hectic as ours and the people seem a lot less stressed than we do on election days.
- It was proposed to allow felons who have served their sentences to be allowed to vote again.
- It was proposed that each state should set a benchmark (say 2% residual) for voting system performance. A suggested benchmark measure was residual vote: percentage of over/spoiled/under votes. I think this measure should be defined at a federal level to avoid states setting up confusing ones.
- It was proposed that each state issue a public report on the number of their residual votes after each election that includes probable causes of error if any.
The Ney-Dodd-Hoyer-McConnell Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 (H.R. 3295)
Here's what actually passed more than a year later in October 2002.
Analysis of H.R. 3295
H.R. 3295 in its gory detail
Well, not a single one of the recommendations above that I liked were implemented. In fact, I personally wondered whether the President even read the recommendations of the Task Force at all. All that happened, was a handful of money was thrown at the election problem and our President got a chance to pose for the media cameras. Ugh!
The result? Each state is going at it (or not) in their own way with some money in their coffin. There are committees of committees. But, bottom line, by law, states do not have any more requirements than before the Help America Vote Act was passed.
What now?
Once again, a federal election year is looming ahead. What's happening? Here's a good summarizing website on the election reform issue.
electiononline.org
