Electoral Reform Priorities per Karita Hummer

Most objective observers concluded long ago that had the full recount of the Florida votes in 2000 been allowed to take place before the winner was certified, Al Gore would have been president rather than George Bush. The unprecedented intrusion of the U.S. Supreme Court barring the completion of the recount already underway may have changed the course of history for years to come. It is impossible to know at this vantage point whether a Gore presidency would have been so successful that he would have been re-elected in 2004, whether the Republicans would have nominated GWB for a second time in 2004, or any scenario you can imagine would have followed had all the votes in Florida been accurately counted.

The outcome of the 2004 presidential election has elicited an incredible amount of discussion, debate, and controversy. The outcome in Ohio was no doubt the most critical in terms of the final tally of the Electoral Vote but Ohio was by no means the only state in which plausible allegations of voting irregularities were present. 

Lest it appear that demands for electoral reform are only an evidence of sour grapes by disgruntled democrats who are unwilling to accept the results of the 2000 and 2004 elections, it should be noted that many of the issues that cast doubts on these elections have plagued elections at the local and national level for decades or more. Some of the more plausible allegations pre-date the use of electronic ballots; some involve serious questions as to the true outcome of the 1960 presidential election in Illinois, LBJ's first congressional race in Texas, and many do not allege wrong doing by either major party but the denial of equal voting rights to segments of the population such as minorities, ex-offenders, etc.

It is likely that lack of confidence in the electoral process is a contributing factor in the disgracefully low turnout of Americans on election day. It seems clear that the problem is a bi-partisan issue and therefore the solution must be a bi-partisan solution. Neither party should expect any advantage for their candidates from the electoral process itself. Every patriotic American should insist and demand that our electoral system be structured to provide every American an opportunity to cast a ballot with confidence that their vote will count, and be counted. It is in that spirit that Karita Hummer, Donna Jones, and others involved in the online group A Better Future for All have developed a set of proposed priorities for reforming the way we conduct elections. At my request, Karita has summarized the results of their work and proposes the following five issues as priorities for action. 

I am issuing an urgent request to all who read this posting to respond with your comments and help us develop a consensus regarding the most important non-partisan actions that, if taken, would make our elections more transparent, more credible, and help to insure that the will of the voters is indeed reflected in the final tally for every election.

 [I  am also including a response from Jeff Zamrzla following Karita's list.]

What do you think?

1. Insist on Voter Verified Paper Ballots, with such provisions as recommended in bills submitted by Congressman Rush Holt (H.R. 550) and Senators Clinton and Boxer (S.450), and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)( H. R. 930) their bill’s provisions being
• all voting systems provide a voter-verified paper ballot (VVPB), 
• the VVPB is the official ballot of record for use in all recounts or audits, and
• mandatory, manual recounts of the VVPBs be performed in a randomly-selected set of 2% of all precincts nationwide.
2. State Election Officers at the highest level should not be in a dual relationship, overseeing elections and holding positions in their respective parties and campaigns.  (Much like Jeff's point)
3. Stiffen penalties for vote tampering and voter suppression and make such offenses a federal crime. (This would hold for LBJ, Daley, Tammany Hall, Blackwell, Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush or Karl Rove, to name just a few electoral scoundrels (if you don't mind the word).
4.  Ensure that Software Codes for Voting Programs are publicly disclosed and/or are accessible.  (Much like Jeff's point)
5. The right to vote should become a constitutional right – as Jesse Jackson, Jr. asserts

Hope this is helpful.

 

Karita

 

--- Jeff Zamrzla wrote: >

 

Number one -

 

All hardware and software need to be owned by the county or entity that purchased it. Right now, hardware is purchased, and software is completely proprietary. That is a big mistake; the software should be open to inspection by the best in the business to give all confidence. The hardware needs to be open for inspection by the best in the business as well. > > > >

 

Number two -

 

open up the elections offices to non-partisan observers to observe the tabulators. These will be persons highly skilled in mathematics, probabilities, and computer science. These persons will have the tools to recognize the smell of a skunk when they smell it and the ability to stop a hackers' attempt to change the vote. > > > >

 

Number three -

 

All conflicts of interest, whether perceived or real, must be resolved. After the way in which Florida, Ohio, and a few other states were won in the last two elections, I have no faith in an elected official, such as the Secretary of State of any state, when that elected official takes on a side job of being involved in a partisan campaign.