Common Cause Blog

Pennsylvania Afternoon Rap-Up

It is difficult to make general statements about whether or not Pennsylvania experienced serious systemic problems today.� Days and weeks will be needed to do that sort of analysis and at this moment there are still a few hours to go at the polls.� What is clear is that many of the problems in Pennsylvania, long lines, too few machines, too few well trained poll workers were predictable and could have been avoided.� How long should voters be expected to stand in line?� Certainly an hour is reasonable but some voters waited as long as three hours in State College, Philadelphia and in Allegheny County.�� At what point does a voter give up, forfeiting their right to vote for personal considerations--essentially being disenfranchised because of the government's inability to collect votes in a reasonably swift and accurate way?�

Clearly, the system needs more resources, voters need more time to vote via early voting and an Election Day holiday, poll workers need training, and machines need to be accessible and trustworthy.� When we address these issues in the future, and we must, most of us will just be curious about the results come Election Day, we won't have to wonder if the election was clean or if people were wrongly shut out of the process.

Summary of top problems Election Day Afternoon

Polling Place Dress Code

Update: I voted last night�in-person/absentee/early voting.� And with my non-campaign shirt on. This satellite polling place seemed ready for heavy turnout - several pollworkers, a large room with seating, take-a-number system (you have to wait to have absentee application checked by phone).� They said the room was filled most of the day.� Too bad about the mystery voting machines and the ID requirement in Virginia.� Read more about some�problems with�voting in Virginia and other states in our report.

You would think the VA Board of Elections has better things to do.� After all, there are lots of paperless electronic voting machines in the state.� No recounts!� They require ID to vote - my 86-year-old mother spent half a day in DMV to get hers.� The state essentially asks you to lie to vote early.

But, according to the WaPo:

The State Board of Elections today adopted a ban on clothing, hats, buttons or other paraphernalia that directly advocates the election or defeat of a specific candidate or issue.

What if I show up in a campaign t-shirt just as the polls are set to close?� Will they send me back for another shirt, effectively banning me from voting?� Or, will I be able to vote shirtless?

Race, Gender and the Media in the 2008 Elections

Watch it live online!

Today and tomorrow St. John's University School of Law in NYC is hosting a symposium titled MAKING HISTORY: Race, Gender and the Media in the 2008 Elections.

This symposium will investigate the subject of race, gender and the media in the 2008 elections. Many democracies, such as the United Kingdom, Argentina, India, Israel, the Philippines, Pakistan, Liberia and other countries have or have had women heads of state, and other countries, like Peru and Bolivia, have elected presidents who are members of racial minority groups. However, the United States has never elected a woman or a person of color as president and has traditionally discriminated against both women and minority voters and candidates. In 2008, we stand poised to witness the historic event of a black male or a white woman heading the presidential ballot on behalf of a major political party.

WATCH LIVE
All sessions of the MAKING HISTORY Symposia will be broadcast live via the St. John's University Web site. Viewers are also encouraged to submit questions to panelists for any session.

An Electoral Lesson By: Michael Rohrs, Common Cause Intern

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) had its people call our people to set up a meeting for June 18th.� They asked to learn about our campaign on election reform.� More specifically they asked, "What are the most pressing issues facing the American electoral process in 2008 This past Wednesday, we got the full biography on who their people are, exactly.

The OSCE is� "is a very� large regional security organization which includes 56 member countries, hailing from a range of six geographical regions: Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe, Western Europe, South Caucus, Central Asia, and North America.� The OSCE's operation, which has headquarters in Vienna, projects three primary pillars of objectives: the politico-military, the economic and environmental, and the human dimension.� Institutional structure parallels can easily be drawn from the OSCE to the European Union.

Colorado's Elections Need Rethinking

Colorado's Secretary of State, Mike Coffman, announced yesterday that most of the voting machines used in the state have been decertified. In a highly anticipated decision, the Secretary said that the machines are unreliable and unsecure and therefore cannot be used for the 2008 elections.

It's not yet clear if the move means counties will need to purchase new equipment or if they can work with machine-makers and the secretary of state to reassure voters and the state that the equipment works. It is clear that Coffman's decision to "decertify" machines made by three of four manufacturers -- Sequoia Voting System, Hart InterCivic and Election Systems and Software, or ES&S -- will have far-reaching impact, Coffman and others said.

At Common Cause, we fight to ensure that our votes are counted accurately and with integrity. If that means decertifying our electronic voting machines because they are unreliable, then the decision was a necessary one. However, we also believe that we cannot take away options for voters. Encouraging participation in our elections should be a top priority for our election administrators.

"About 55 percent of the voters, the majority of Colorado, vote at polling places," said Jenny Flanagan, executive director of Colorado Common Cause. "If we eliminate that option, we run the risk of leaving voters out." Flanagan said the situation is "challenging" and that all sides need to put their "heads together to come up with a solution."

Proof of Citizenship Requirement Rearing Its Ugly Head Again

The issue of requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is rearing it's ugly head in Colorado once again. Each year in the legislature, a bill of this sort comes up at least once. And each year, we at Common Cause work hard to defeat the bill because we believe in removing barriers to our voting process, not adding them. But this year, El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink is taking a different approach.

If the state is going to require that people be U.S. citizens in order to vote, then it should allow election officials to verify that citizenship, Balink argues. But if the state doesn't want to require a check of citizenship, then the law shouldn't even mention the word in its definition of eligibility. It would make sense, Balink says, to remove it. But Balink doesn't want to remove the requirement. He just wants to be able to check for citizenship. Or else,he says, "How can I be sure I'm following the law?"

Balink belives that if the legislature won't pass a bill requiring proof of citizenship, a lawsuit would force the issue. Those who believe that we should require proof of citizenship claim it's not that difficult to obtain the proof, and you would only have to do it once. An editorial in this week's Denver Post says:

Proving citizenship isn't as easy as proving identity. A driver's license or state ID card works to prove you are who you say you are. But a passport, or a birth certificate accompanied by a current photo ID, is necessary to prove citizenship. Inconvenient, perhaps, but not onerous. Proof of identity would have to be shown only once, when a voter registers for the first time. There wouldn't be any requirement to establish citizenship for each new election. Voters would not have to show up at their polling places with passports and birth certificates.

To say that proving citizenship is not onerous is wrong. It is expensive and time-cosuming, not to mention infringing on our basic voting rights. The citizenship requirement is aimed at illegal immigrants and discouraging them from voting. But, there is little to no evidence of voter fraud in Colorado. This is a solution in search of a problem. The possibility of having to bring even more identification to the polls is going to discourage people from voting. In a democracy where voting is a fundamental right, we should be passing laws that make it easier to vote, not harder.

Shelton special election a success

Republican Jason Perillo has won the special election for the 113th House district in Shelton, Conn. - the first election in Connecticut that offered Citizens' Election grants to candidates.

Perillo, who won with 64 percent of the vote, earned the distinction of being the first candidate to qualify for the state's election grants and will now be the first Citizens' Election Program participant to be sworn into office. His opponent, Democrat James Orazietti, also participated in the Citizens' Election Program.

Although it will still be several days before the State Elections Enforcement Commission issues a final determination how well the new Citizens' Election Program worked in the special election, SEEC officials have said no major problems have occurred.