Dysfunctional Election Process Needs to Be Repaired

[Joanne98]

by John Nichols

Appearing on the HBO talk show "Real Time With Bill Maher" a few weeks before last week's election, actor Tim Robbins urged voters to stand their ground when it came to demanding their right to cast ballots: "Refuse provisional ballots. They're throwing those out. They can throw those out. If that's your last resort, take it, but fight in the polling place to vote. It's your right as an American. You have every right to vote if you're registered. And if you're not on the rolls and something went wrong, document it. Video cameras at polls are going to be an effective way to fight this Election Day."

On the actual Election Day, in a twist worthy of Orwell, Robbins had to take his own advice. When the politically active actor showed up at the New York City polling place where he has been casting ballots for more than a decade, he was told that his name was not on the list of registered voters. So he refused to leave his polling place in Greenwich Village, even after an election worker suggested that the police might have to be called. Finally informed that he could go downtown to the office of the city's Board of Elections, Robbins made the trek, got verification that he was properly registered, got a judge to rule that he would be allowed to vote, and headed back to his polling place to finally vote five hours after his Election Day ordeal began.

Robbins had the time, the resources and the information to make sure his vote would be cast and counted. He could overcome the hurdles placed in the way of democracy.

But not all Americans were so well-positioned, or so determined, as Robbins. And that is why last Tuesday's election cannot be called a success by anyone who takes serious the promise of the American experiment.

A great democracy that is home to a very busy people ought not ask citizens to wait up to eight hours to cast their ballots, But that is precisely what America has done during the course of this most volatile and critical of election seasons.

As citizens, we do democracy itself a disservice if we finish counting the votes and simply say: All's well that ends well.

Barack Obama has won the presidency. Democrats will control the Congress. And many Americans who griped through the last eight years about the Supreme Court intervention in the 2000 Florida recount and the mess that was Ohio in 2004 will be inclined to put aside their concerns about the problematic process by which we choose this nation's leaders

All is not well with the process by which America registers voters and casts and counts votes. And the time to repair a broken system is now, when the memories of its dysfunction -- so well documented by the group No More Stolen Elections! (www.nomorestolenelections.org) -- are fresh.

What are the signs of dysfunction?

1. Separate-but-equal access to the polls. With voting systems that differ from state to state, and sometimes even within states, the playing field is not equal.

It is easier to vote in some places than others: because there are more polling places, more machines, longer voting hours and more citizen-friendly practices and procedures. And make no mistake about the fact that, when a working mom with kids must wait in line for four hours, that is not an inconvenience. That is a barrier to voting. "When people are waiting in line four, five, six hours, that's just too long for a lot of working people who want to participate in this election," says former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder, who now serves as mayor of Richmond.

2. Even people who are appropriately registered and ready to vote can run into problems such as the one Robbins faced.

This is a simple technological issue. Election boards can and should have laptops at all polling places so that poll workers can conduct checks instantaneously. Not every voter can spend half a workday correcting official errors. And they should not have to do so. "We have the technology," says Wilder. "Why not use it to make voting easier and more efficient?"

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/12-3

[groovedaddy]

1. Point well made. Has the integrity of the system been restored?

After a meeting the other night, a number of us were at local eatery when the subject of the Georgia runoff came up. Different aspects of the race were discussed and a few strategies offered, but when I asked the question: "who here trusts electronic voting machines?" the group went silent. I don't think it was a tinfoil moment, as much as it's an issue that trumps all others. I put nothing past republicans when it comes to cheating.