Senators Kerry (D-MA), Clinton (D-NY), and Boxer (D-CA) introduced the "Count Every Vote Act" in Congress yesterday. The L.A. Times says that Senate Democrats have put Election Reform on their top 10 list. This act would:
1. Give voters the right to register and vote on Election Day
2. Make Election Day a Federal Holiday
3. Require a paper ballot for every vote cast electronically
4. Allow ex-felons to vote after they have completed their sentences
5. Require random recounts after an election
6. Provide money to study the use of the Internet for voter registration
7. Require states to come up with a plan to reduce waiting time at polling places if a "substantial number" of voters had to wait more than 90 minutes in the 2004 election.
Meanwhile, the GOP introduced their own reform measure, which would:
8. Require voters to present a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot
9. Establish a pilot program to use indelible ink at polling places a la Iraq.
As one would expect, Democratic reforms would make it easier to vote while Republican reforms would make it harder. Still, if taken together, they sound like a fine package, so I say let's do it all. Any objections?
Friday, February 18, 2005
Count Every Vote
Posted by Dr. Strangelove at 1:54 PM
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4 comments:
Sounds fine to me. I assume it will pass in a landslide, too.
I think it is worth noting that the "anti-fraud" measures proposed by the Republicans would in no way address the most frequent ways in which conservatives commit voter fraud. They do not prevent voter intimidation or computerized fraud.
These only prevent voter fraud by people with few technical and organizational resources. I'm curious which form of fraud is believed to be the most common (i.e. produce the most erroneously counted votes) and whether it has a systematic effect in favor of either party.
I'm pretty convinced that the Republican party is becoming a kind of neo-fascist/nationalist party willing to tell any lie, break any deal, bend any rule to maintain the power that "God" has ordained they should have. I say, no compromise with the Republicans. Better the status quo than to accept a compromise with the devil.
I agree with RBR. And I will NOT agree to an inked finger. That is degrading beyond belief.
I could not agree more with USWest on with the inked finger issue. It is horribly degrading. It will feel like getting booked for a crime (i.e., getting fignerprinted)On the other hand, I can imagine rich republican women refusing to have their fingers inked, and therefore not voting. I can guess that the pilot program will not be in such a neighborhood.
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