What About Voing Rights For All AmericansBy Andrew Kirshenbaum
Published September 10th 2004 in Washington Times
I'm glad Adrienne Washington chose to criticize the Republican platform
committee for not including D.C. voting rights in the national platform
("Rights expressed in New York, repressed in D.C.," Metropolitan, Aug. 31).
What about voting rights for all Americans? While the United States has
worked to include the right to vote in the constitutions of both
Afghanistan and Iraq, our own Constitution does not guarantee Americans such a right. In other words, voting is not a right of citizenship in the United States.
Instead, states control voting policies and procedures, which led to
the voting problems and irregularities during the 2000 presidential
election debacle.
According to a Cal Tech/MIT study, approximately 6 million votes were
never counted during the 2000 elections.
It is time to establish voting as a right of citizenship that all Americans can enjoy equally. I echo Mrs. Washington's conclusion that if we want to spread democracy worldwide, we must start at home.
Andrew Kirshenbaum
Program associate
Center for Voting and Democracy
Takoma Park
committee for not including D.C. voting rights in the national platform
("Rights expressed in New York, repressed in D.C.," Metropolitan, Aug. 31).
What about voting rights for all Americans? While the United States has
worked to include the right to vote in the constitutions of both
Afghanistan and Iraq, our own Constitution does not guarantee Americans such a right. In other words, voting is not a right of citizenship in the United States.
Instead, states control voting policies and procedures, which led to
the voting problems and irregularities during the 2000 presidential
election debacle.
According to a Cal Tech/MIT study, approximately 6 million votes were
never counted during the 2000 elections.
It is time to establish voting as a right of citizenship that all Americans can enjoy equally. I echo Mrs. Washington's conclusion that if we want to spread democracy worldwide, we must start at home.
Andrew Kirshenbaum
Program associate
Center for Voting and Democracy
Takoma Park
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.