Subject: [Homestead] Who or what should help and urge voters to vote?
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:46:07 -0700
Don showed the difference between voter fraud and registration fraud.
The ACORN imbroglio is an example of the fact that something is
haywire--that we Americans have not adequately addressed who or what
should cause voter registration and urge citizens to vote. This
article points out that we Americans are one of the few peoples who
accept a national government's disinterest in urging and helping its
citizens to become part of the process.
Universal Voter Registration as the Real Answer to Fraud Concerns
by Rob Richie and Adam Fogel
Blaming ACORN for our voter registration system is a classic failure
of missing the forest for the trees. Amidst accusations of ACORN
putting our democracy in jeopardy, few are asking why private groups
are even in the business of voter registration drives. The answer is
that the United States is one of the few democracies where the federal
government doesn’t assume responsibility for establishing full and
accurate voter rolls — and it just isn’t working.
Each election cycle, scores of generally well-intentioned
organizations and individuals register millions of new people to vote,
and inevitably accusations of voter registration fraud — often
mistakenly termed “voter fraud” — follow. Some canvassers submit
fraudulent names for extra pay; this is what ACORN has been accused
of. Many citizens submit forms with inaccurate information.
Although highly unlikely to impact the actual casting of votes, voter
registration fraud is serious — it wastes all-too-scarce resources of
local election offices, balloons voter rolls with fake names and
increases the odds of Election Day confusion. Ending voter
registration fraud is a big reason for the government to modernize
registration.
These problems are part of a much bigger failure in how we run
elections. Nearly a third of eligible voters aren’t registered to vote
and our turnout rates are among the lowest in the world. That’s why
groups like ACORN have to pour resources into voter registration
drives every four years instead of focusing on other means to empower
people in their communities.
The problem is our “opt-in,” self-initiated voter registration system.
Right now the onus is on citizens to update their information, ensure
correct spelling and cancel old registrations when they move. Without
a parent who votes or a motivated high school teacher handing out
voter registration forms, many young people never register or learn
the basics of participation — as if preparation for citizenship
weren’t an obvious goal of an effective public school system.
Low voter registration contributes directly to low voter turnout. Once
registered, people are much more likely to vote in big elections. In
2004, the U.S. Census reported participation rates of more than 85
percent of registered voters. Four in five registered voters in the 18
to 24-year-old cohort showed up. But even 100 percent turnout of
registered voters would leave us with lower turnout than most other
well-established democracies.
At the same time, many people are on the rolls more than once and our
rolls are cluttered with people who have died or moved. Alaska
notoriously has more registered voters than eligible adults.
Implementing a few common sense reforms would go a long way in solving
our voter registration problems and lessen the necessity of groups
seeking to register so many new voters every four years.
One example is seeking to register every citizen before they reach
voting age by following the lead of Hawaii and Florida in allowing 16-
year-olds to register to vote, with their names automatically added to
the voter rolls when they reach 18. This change would ideally be
twinned with systematic registration of young people in high schools
and at driver’s license agencies and “voter’s ed” classes on the
mechanics of participation in communities. Other sensible proposals
include Election Day registration and moving to making voter
registration permanent through automatic updates of registration with
changes of address.
More broadly, it’s time for the government to take on the
responsibility of establishing full and accurate voter rolls. This
goal is not rocket science — it’s the international norm and the very
best way to prevent voter registration fraud and our low rates of
voter registration.
Our ultimate goal should be a democracy where our policies anticipate
participation. All eligible voters, regardless of their parents’
voting behavior or where they grow up, should be registered to vote.
All students should leave school grounded in an understanding of and
an appreciation for our democracy and their role in it. It’s time to
respect — and protect — every vote.
Rob Richie is the executive director of FairVote, a nonpartisan,
nonprofit election reform and voting rights organization in Takoma
Park, MD. Adam Fogel directs FairVote's Right to Vote Initiative.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/30-4
[Homestead] Who or what should help and urge voters to vote?,
Gene GeRue, 10/30/2008