Election Reform

[stringer bell]

I am not an expert, but I have more than a passing interest in election, vote counting and tabulation. I know that elections are up to the states, but can we get some minimum standards? States are all over the board in how they register voters and several (including Minnesota) permit same-day registration. Some states require a Photo ID, some don’t. What ID can be used varies widely. Absentee and provisional ballot administration are different from state to state. Worst of all, states have different ballots within their states! I think conformity and minimum standards should be mandated.

[Badsmerf]

Agreed. The fiasco in southern Florida should be further evidence why this had to happen. They basically hid the US Senate race in a corner of the ballot. A whopping 10% of people who voted for governor, didn't vote for Senate in some areas.

[TheLeviathan]

I'm very curious to watch Oregon's model of automatically registering.

[Squirrel]

I'm very curious to watch Oregon's model of automatically registering.

I’m wary of just how to go about creating a universal voting system but a national, automatic voter registration system is one thing I’d advocate for.

[Squirrel]

Agreed. The fiasco in southern Florida should be further evidence why this had to happen. They basically hid the US Senate race in a corner of the ballot. A whopping 10% of people who voted for governor, didn't vote for Senate in some areas.

Yep ... and who oversaw and approved that? It should not be someone who is also running in any race. That would be something else I’d want to see happen ... that the ultimate overseer of elections either be neutral or bi-partisan.

[Squirrel]

Further, as to election reform, along with national registration laws I’d like to see adequate access and availability to polling places, with plenty of working machines and have these places open and available for days or weeks leading up to the elections like in Chicago. None of this bull**** of leaving the most populated areas with fewer polling places and machines that don’t work and don’t have electrical chords and shortened hours of access. These forms of repression are the worst. The long lines and inability to vote is disgusting and mostly responsible by Republican law makers.

 

And I think standardized ballots ... what happened with the Florid ballots is shameful. It’s 2000 all over again.

 

I am very wary of voter ID laws ... such as in ND, GA and others. I’m not sure what would work, but maybe in working on a national registration some kind of a card could be issued but I have no idea how that would work and is fraught with problems. Some people don’t have addresses, everyone’s signatures changes and evolves, especially as we age, not everyone can afford or has access to obtain state photo IDs.

 

But step one is for all sides to agree we need to have some basic standardization across the nation. And that won’t happen because the number one tool for Republicans is voter repression.