By John Nichols
Published December 8th 2004 in The Nation
As US Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the
House Judiciary Committee, chaired Tuesday's hearing on irregularities
in the presidential voting in Ohio on November 2, the Rev. Jesse
Jackson warned that the session must be more than merely an opportunity
to "vent."
"We cannot vent and then have Congress not act. If
these reports are not investigated, we have all wasted our time," the
two-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination declared.
"This cannot simply be an academic venting session. Take this struggle
to the streets and legitimize it there, as they did in Selma."
Jackson
is right. There is no question that the voting and ballot counting
processes in Ohio--and a number of other states--were deeply flawed.
Those flaws are well outlined in the letter that Conyers and eleven
other Democratic representatives sent earlier this month to Ohio
Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. (Click hereto read the letter and other recent communications from Conyers to
state and federal officials regarding the electoral troubles in Ohio.)
The
letter, as well as testimony at today's hearing in Washington, makes a
convincing case for continuing the examination of the mess that
Blackwell, a Bush partisan, and his team made of the voting in Ohio on
November 2. Necessarily, that examination must include the full recount
requested by Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb and others.
But
it is important to recognize that the sort of election problems that
were discussed at Tuesday's hearing are not isolated to Ohio--just as
the problems that came to light during the Florida recount fight of
2000 were not isolated to the Sunshine State.
The United States
lacks a coherent and consistent set of standards for registering to
vote, voting, counting ballots or recounting them. Thus, every election
cycle brings new instances of disenfranchisement and doubts about the
validity of the process.
On the eve of the Conyers hearing, the
new group Progressive Democrats of America released a well-reasoned
list of electoral reforms which can and should become central to the
activism of everyone who is dissatisfied with the process--and the
result--of the November 2 election. PDA argues that America needs:
* A Constitutional amendment confirming the right to vote.
* A required paper record for all electronic and electronically tabulated voting systems.
* Same-day registration for all Americans.
* The creation of unified federal standards for national elections.
*
Meaningful equal protection of voting rights by such means as equal
voting systems, equal numbers of machines, and equal time to vote.
* An end to partisan oversight of the electoral process.
* Extended voting periods to allow all voters a meaningful opportunity to vote.
* Instant Run-off Voting and Proportional Representation.
* Publicly financed elections for federal offices.
That's a long list. And the best place to begin is with the basics: guaranteeing the right to vote.
During
the Supreme Court deliberations in 2000 on the Bush v. Gore case that
ultimately determined the occupant of the White House, Justice Antonin
Scalia went out of his way to establish that the individual citizen has
no federal constitutional right to vote for the president of the United
States. US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Illinois, has set out to rectify
that glaring omission by proposing an amendment to the Constitution
that would cure a lot of what ails our political process.
Here's the text of the amendment
SECTION
1. All citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or
older, shall have the right to vote in any public election held in the
jurisdiction in which the citizen resides. The right to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States, any State, or any other
public or private person or entity, except that the United States or
any State may establish regulations narrowly tailored to produce
efficient and honest elections.
SECTION 2. Each State shall
administer public elections in the State in accordance with election
performance standards established by the Congress. The Congress shall
reconsider such election performance standards at least once every four
years to determine if higher standards should be established to reflect
improvements in methods and practices regarding the administration of
elections.
SECTION 3. Each State shall provide any eligible voter the opportunity to register and vote on the day of any public election.
SECTION
4. Each State and the District constituting the seat of Government of
the United States shall establish and abide by rules for appointing its
respective number of Electors. Such rules shall provide for the
appointment of Electors on the day designated by the Congress for
holding an election for President and Vice President and shall ensure
that each Elector votes for the candidate for President and Vice
President who received a majority of the popular vote in the State or
District.
The right-to-vote amendment is not all the reform that
is needed. But if the goal of is to prevent future electoral
fiascos--like Florida, Ohio or elsewhere--it is a vehicle for getting
started. After all, who, aside from Antonin Scalia, would argue against
the right to vote.