Common Cause Blog

Reflections on the 2008 Election

As we recoup from the excitement of Election Day, I want to share a couple of thoughts with you about this historic election, and about moving forward from here.

First, I am pleased to announce the passage in California of a redistricting initiative that will take from the hands of partisan lawmakers the job of drawing legislative district lines and give it instead to an independent, bipartisan commission. California Common Cause, led by Kathay Feng, was the architect of that campaign, which was also supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), the League of Women Voters and other groups. I will have more information on this victory to share with you soon. The votes on Proposition 11, as the redistricting initiative was known, were so close that we just learned of the victory last night. But we are so proud of the success there, and plan to work on redistricting reform in other states to make legislative races more competitive and lawmakers more accountable to their constituents.

Secondly, the voting itself on Election Day, was truly inspiring. More than 133 million people -- about 64 percent of the voting population, the highest turnout in 100 years -- came out to the polls, and many waited in lines that went on for hours. They stood in the rain, cold and heat. They held their ground when election officials said they could not vote, and called Election Protection volunteers for assistance. Our democracy is alive and thriving. While our goal is 100 percent participation, we are moving in the right direction.

The problems we feared - widespread electronic voting machine failures, challenges to voters on a large scale, mass confusion regarding registration issues - were isolated, due in large part to the work of groups like Common Cause, which worked for weeks before the election to mobilize and educate voters, and to work with election officials so that Election Day would go smoothly. The Election Protection Coalition, of which Common Cause was part, also played a large role in that success, answering tens of thousands of voter calls on its national, non partisan voter hotline staffed by trained volunteers and lawyers.

But while Election Day 2008 passed with fewer problems than the previous two national elections, it underscored once again basic weaknesses in our voting systems, like lack of resource for more voting machines and more trained poll workers, both of which would go a long way toward moving lines faster. Rest assured that we at Common Cause will continue to press for federal and state reforms to assure that polling places can accommodate large turn-outs, and that we have an election system in which all eligible voters can cast their ballots, and that those votes are counted.

Youth Voting Numbers and What it Tells Us About the Future of Politics

I just got off a press call with Peter Levine, Director of Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), who discussed the role of young voters (18-29) in this election. These are preliminary numbers based on exit polling so they are approximate.� The statistics will become more clear in the upcoming days.� That being said, the current data demonstrates that young voters played a crucial and historic role in determining the outcome of this election and hence the future of this country.

The youth share of the vote was 18%, up a couple percentage points from 2004, which was also a big year for youth voter turnout.

Approximately 133 million people voted in this election, 24 million of which were young voters.� Votes are still be counted, however and these numbers could change slightly in the next few days.

50-54% of young people voted in this election.� This is second only to 1972, when 55.4% of young people turned out to vote.� Coincidentally, this record turnout came two years after Common Cause was founded in 1970, when Americans were dealing with similar problems both at home (political corruption) and abroad (Vietnam).� 1972 was also the first year 18-20 year olds were allowed to vote.

Election day in California

Wanted to report on the election protection efforts of Common Cause on Election Day 2008. I was on calls reporting on efforts in CA and the nation. As of 4pm, election protection efforts have fielded more than 72,000 calls nationwide and 5,096 calls in CA.

We heard on the 10am call that there were long lines in Los Angeles and that many polling places didn't have the supplemental registration lists for those registering late. So those folks had to vote by provisional ballot. In addition, many polling places in LA didn't have enough ballots. In some cases they didn't have any.

Florida, the beginning of the aftermath and a new era

First off, a great story about the tremendous voter protection work we did in Florida (patting self on back):

For nearly a month, Zeigler has worked with five volunteers to help voters in five counties whose registrations had not met the state's verification law, better known as the "no match, no vote" law. In Duval County alone, there were 258. Zeigler is one of the people who has worked on election-protection efforts in seven swing states, sponsored by the nonprofit Common Cause.

But the big story today is about Obama, of course, and the incredible moment in American history and American democracy. Indeed, we have many problems to solve and a ton of work to do, but yesterday's numbers tell a promising story: over 130 million votes cast, a turnout over 62% that is the highest in at least 44 years, led by the historic level of young voter turnout. And, of course, the first African-American president in our history.

One of the untold stories of this election was the lengthy, and often under-the-radar, work by the Election Protection coalition that we were a part of -- winning court battles, organizing on the ground, and preventing potential election problems in the months and years before Election Day. Folks like our Florida team did a tremendous job of making sure every voter had a chance to cast a ballot that counted.

We still have too much big money in our politics, too many deceptive practices in our elections, and too few companies controlling too many major media outlets. We have a lot to do to continue to mold this beacon of democracy -- but yesterday was a big step forward in many, many ways.

Rock the Vote: Young Voters Hit Record Turnout in States Across the Country

Rock the Vote reports that despite several tactics employed by various groups to suppress youth voter turnout, young people came out and were heard in record numbers.

Despite these turnout increases, attempts to keep more young Americans from voting are widespread today. "Our voting process continues to be marred by bureaucratic ineptitude, premeditated shenanigans and outright attempts to disenfranchise young voters. These new voters will impact the election and, despite the attacks, are fighting back," said Heather Smith, Executive Director, Rock the Vote.

Voting rights violations are nothing new in our country - sadly, we have long history of targeting groups of people based on their race, socioeconomic status, or gender in attempts to keep them from registering and voting. In the 1960s, defenders of the status quo used police dogs and bloodshed; today, they use lies and threats, distributed online and through text messaging.

"If you ever needed proof that young people are making their mark on politics, just look at the new techniques of suppressing their vote through inaccurate text messages and Facebook status updates directing young people to vote on November 5. While, these tactics may appear less crude, the aim is just as criminal and sinister," said Heather Smith, Executive Director, Rock the Vote.

Taking voter calls in California

It may not be glamorous, but there's something exciting about pictures like this -- what just one of the many Election Protection command centers look like around the country, with trained volunteers and legal professionals taking calls and logging it into our database for any follow up.

This is from LA, where polls remain open and calls continue to pour in. You can view the breakdown of calls we've been getting all day at the OurVoteLive site.

Student Voting Report #6 - Student Denied Provisional Ballots at Penn State

At 6:30pm, I received some disturbing news from Amy Zeller, DM coordinator at Penn State. A Penn State student went to vote, her name was not listed in the voting rolls, and the poll workers refused to give her a provisional ballot. They claimed, "they were not giving out at provisional ballots." This, of course, is completely illegal. Every single person has the right to cast a provisional ballot as a last resort.

The student found Amy and told her what happened and the two of them marched back over the polling place and confronted the poll worker, demanding that they give the student a provisional ballot. The polls worker claimed that the local election office has instructed them to not hand out any provisional ballots. Amy and the student called the 1.866.OUR.VOTE hot line and got in touch with an election lawyer who then called the local election office. An election lawyer for the Obama campaign also got involved and argued on the student's behalf, demanding she be allowed to cast a provisional ballot.