A Manifesto For Government Reform Part 4 of 4

This is the final installment of our weeklong series on government reform.

Problem #4: Party Hack ≠ Election Commissioner

.....................The Face That Launched a Reform Movement

You may recall (no pun intended) Katherine Harris, Hanging Chad’s best friend and the other iconic symbol of Election 2000 Republican Party hackery. She infiltrated and perverted Florida’s election process in the most sublime and unscrupulous manner imaginable. She did everything possible to prevent a recount short of personally shredding the ballots herself. “Never again!” are the words that spring to mind when I think of old Wicked Witch of the South. Yet incredibly, party chairs continue to assume the roles of Election Commissioners, Secretaries of State and Certifiers of Ballots (remember Ohio ’04?). This, unlike computer voting machines IS a no brainer. Remove party hacks from the election process altogether and do it YESTERDAY. Give states leeway in how they want to conduct state and local elections but for national elections all states should maintain relative consistency of the electoral process. Although it has been the idea du jour since 9/11, a cabinet level non-partisan Department of Elections may not be such a bad idea. Something akin to the non-political Federal Reserve although without presidential appointment, having instead, perhaps a bipartisan board with equal party representation. This department would be tasked with instituting all manner of election reforms and oversight. This body would be to the election process what the SEC has so successfully been to the process of underwriting, issuing and trading securities.

Just a Couple Constitutional Amendments
So that’s my two cents on election and lobbying reform. Will it happen? I doubt it but we’ve begun the conversation and that’s a start. So with that, I will leave you with two other electoral reform ideas. Both are, I admit, pipe dreams that I never expect to come to fruition but who knows? Pipe dream number one is getting rid of the Electoral College. Everyone seems to think they know what the Founding Fathers “intended” (and I frankly cringe every time I hear it) but I truly believe that if the old dudes could witness our current election process they would agree the Electoral College has outlived its usefulness (if it ever had any) and needs to go! Sorry Sam Alito, I’m a “one person, one vote” kinda guy. It is patently unfair that urban regions, who pay far more of the tax revenues it takes to run the country, should be further abused by a vote apportioning system that is rigged against them. Under the Electoral College, rural voters get somewhere on the order of two votes to every one urban vote. It is condescending and arrogant to think that we don’t all know who benefits from this lopsided equation. Having an election process, which the majority of voters perceive as unfair, undermines the integrity of the whole system. The result is voter apathy, which compounds the problem of disproportionate representation. Those with votes that count as double will go to the polls while those with votes that count less will stay home. This will only last for so long. Sooner or later, if we don’t fix this someone smarter and decidedly less conservative than Karl Rove will find their own way to get around the Electoral College.

Finally, forget the marriage amendment, we should amend the Constitution such that U.S. citizens no longer have a right to vote but an obligation to do so. In other words, you want to live here, you have to get up off your fat ass once every two years and go vote. I see it as a small price to pay for liberty. And if you don’t meet your constitutional obligation to vote, you have to pay a fine, get deported, or listen to Celine Dion non-stop for a week. I guess the latter punishment would violate that darn “cruel and unusual” clause though wouldn’t it? Oh well, if we’re only dreaming what’s one more constitutional amendment?