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www.adamhodges.com

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Democracy Wish List in the US

What do I wish for during this holiday season?

On the top of the list is a fair, transparent democratic voting system in the United States that counts every vote and provides equal access to all voters regardless of race. In this spirit, I thought I'd put together a wish list for ways we can improve American democracy, but one already exists.

A Massachusetts group called Truth in Elections, in conjunction with United Progressives for Democracy, No Stolen Elections!, and the Massachusetts Coalition Against Election Fraud, has drafted a "Voter Bill or Rights" that sums up many of my wishes.

Voter Bill of Rights

  1. Guarantee a Voter-Verified Paper Trail for All Voting Machines
  2. Replace Partisan Oversight with Non-Partisan Election Commissions
  3. Celebrate Democracy: Make Election Day a National Holiday
  4. Make it Easier to Vote
  5. Count Every Vote!
  6. Re-Enfranchise Ex-Felons & Non-Felons
  7. Implement Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) and Proportional Representation (PR)
  8. Replace Big Money Control With Public Financing and Equal Air-Time
  9. Guarantee Equal Access to the Ballot and Debates
  10. Abolish the Electoral College and Enact Statehood for the District of Columbia

    Read the full version...

Among the top priorities for improving our electoral process must be creating a transparent, verifiable system so that winners and losers can be assured of the legitimacy of the outcome. That means paper trails for verifiable recounts and systems that reduce the amount of "vote spoilage" and uncounted votes due to technical problems. Reminiscent of the struggle for educational opportunities in America's past, inadequate facilities and unreliable equipment primarily affect minority communities who continue to be disenfranchised.

Through his investigative reporting of election issues, Greg Palast has documented many cases of irregularities. Now that John Conyers is holding hearings on such cases in Ohio and an official recount requested by the Green and Libertarian parties is underway, the mainstream media are providing some coverage, e.g. see the Washington Post article (15 Dec 2004) by Michael Powell and Peter Slevin, "Several Factors Contributed to 'Lost' Voters in Ohio."

A fair, transparent election system is the foundation of democratic legitimacy. Improving the system in the United States requires continuous work.

In addition to ensuring equal access for all voters and that all votes are correctly counted, the next step in electoral reform needs to be Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). IRV is a simple way to ensure that the winner of an election wins with a majority of the votes (i.e. greater than 50%), and eliminates the "spoiler" effect that occurs when more than two candidates appear on the ballot.

For more information on IRV, see "Let's Work for Ballot Reform Rather than Impedance" (12 July 2004) and the FairVote.org website.

Quick Facts on Instant Runoff Voting

Instant runoff voting can be implemented right now by individual states for deciding how their electoral college delegates are decided.

Many city governments, colleges, and political parties have already used IRV for elections. To be used in presidential elections, all it takes is legislation at the state level.

For full information on IRV, see FairVote.org.