By Karissa Marcum
Published August 31st 2007 in The Hill
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is breaking with President Bush on the D.C. voting rights bill.
In a teleconference with reporters on Friday, Huckabee said, “They’re American citizens. They pay taxes and it just doesn’t seem right that someone could be even partially disenfranchised.”
The bill would allow the District of Columbia to have a full
voting member of Congress and permanently increase House membership by
two seats, the other one for Republican-leaning Utah. The House passed
its measure in April and the Senate is expected to act on the issue
this fall.
Huckabee acknowledged the reluctance of some of his fellow Republicans to back the bill. He has not been shy in bucking his party on some matters, saying, “I’ve been running for president of the United States, I am not running for president of the Republican Party.”
The White House released a statement in March stating the president would be advised to veto the bill if it reached his desk, citing concerns that giving the district a representative would be unconstitutional.
In a teleconference with reporters on Friday, Huckabee said, “They’re American citizens. They pay taxes and it just doesn’t seem right that someone could be even partially disenfranchised.”
Huckabee acknowledged the reluctance of some of his fellow Republicans to back the bill. He has not been shy in bucking his party on some matters, saying, “I’ve been running for president of the United States, I am not running for president of the Republican Party.”
The White House released a statement in March stating the president would be advised to veto the bill if it reached his desk, citing concerns that giving the district a representative would be unconstitutional.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.