Pathways to Democracy-Voting
VOTING: How Should We Safeguard and Improve our Elections?
- By DOUG GARNAR –
I taught Intro to American Govt. for many years at SUNY Broome Community College and I would challenge students to consider that the election of 1800 was the most important because the incumbent President, John Adams, was defeated by Thomas Jefferson and Adams accepted the election results and left the White House to retire from politics.
As the current election season comes to an end there is a real concern that the incumbent might not accept the results should he lose. He has already said that the election may be “rigged” and that “mail in ballots” will lead to such an outcome. Concerns have been raised about the US Postal System being able to handle requests for mail‑in ballots and their return, as well an effort to manipulate the system for partisan purposes.
Consider the following:
• There have been five Presidential elections when the winner did not receive a simple majority of those voting (Andrew Jackson, Samuel Tilden, Grover Cleveland, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton).
• Voting rules at the local/state/federal levels tend to be a patchwork quilt of laws. For example, in Indiana a photo ID is needed to vote in any election; whereas in Illinois there is no such requirement. Convicted felons may vote in Maine but not in Maryland.
• Outdated voting machines/those subjected to hacking, out of date voter registration lists/data bases as well as “purging” of voter registration lists plague a number of states.
• Voter participation at the national level sees 55% of eligible citizens vote whereas in countries like Belgium, Sweden and Denmark the figure is over 80%. Our Canadian neighbors vote over 62% of the time.
• More than 75% of American voters can vote by mail (excused/absentee ballots or simply by requesting a mail-in ballot).
• Tens of millions of eligible Americans are unregistered to vote.
As we move to Election 2020, many Americans are concerned about our elections at all levels being fair/efficient; that their votes will be accurately counted and the local voting systems will be safe from hacking and foreign interference.
The National Issues Forums Institute has created a draft “Issue Advisory” designed to promote community deliberation. The issues raised in this column did not just emerge over the past few years and will continue well beyond November 3rd, the COVID Crisis notwithstanding. Three options for deliberation regarding voting include the following:
OPTION 1: INCREASE VOTER PARTICIPATION
Things we might do:
• Give all voters the option to vote by mail, using bar-coded ballots and careful signature comparisons.
• Make Election Day a National Holiday.
• Expand early voting everywhere, allowing it to take place for a week or more.
• Allow automatic or same-day voter registration.
As with all NIFI deliberations, drawbacks and trade-offs for each action are given. A primary drawback is that most people who are informed on the issues of the day do vote. Should special efforts be made to push uninterested/uninformed people to vote? Will increasing the number of voters improve our democracy or lead to better government?
OPTION 2: PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF VOTING
Recent elections have seen efforts by foreign powers to interfere with voting: hacking of vote registration lists; technology mishaps, etc. If people’s confidence in voting security is a growing concern, the following actions might be taken:
• Require photo ID for all federal, state, and local elections.
• Limit absentee or mail-in ballots by requiring voters to provide a valid reason, such as travel or illness, for not voting in person.
• Replace digital voting machines with technologies that produce voter-verified paper ballots that cannot be hacked. Mandate that all election boards keep a paper trail of online voters.
• Establish a national cybersecurity agency charged with keeping campaign computer systems safe from hacking and sabotage.
Drawbacks and trade offs for each action are provided.
Might a primary drawback of this option be the potential of creating a more complicating voting system for citizens and local election boards, driving away voters from the polls, making elections less inclusive and representative?
OPTION 3: CHANGE THE RULES TO MAKE
ELECTIONS MORE FAIR
This option argues for broad reforms which make elections more efficient and more responsive to the will of the citizenry (elimination of the electoral college; ranked-choice voting—a system in which citizens rank candidates in order of preference rather than a winner take all system).
The following actions could give citizens a stronger hand in shaping election outcomes, reduce extreme partisanship and help restore public confidence in the democratic process:
• Replace the electoral college with a direct popular vote process.
• Replace the patchwork of state/local election commissions with a centralized system.
• Create independent/nonpartisan commissions to redraw congressional districts.
• Replace winner-take-all elections with a more representative system in which voters can pick their first, second and third choices among the candidates.
A primary drawback of these reforms is that changing the traditional system, which has worked reasonably well, will confuse significant numbers of voters.
Citizens interested in obtaining a copy of
“VOTING: How Should We Safeguard our Elections?”
FOR FREE can email the National Issues Forums Institute at nifi.org. Observations or questions about NIFI or about hosting a deliberation may be directed to Doug Garnar (NIFI ambassador) at garnardc@sunybroome.edu
Doug Garnar works with the Kettering Foundation and NIFI (National Issues Forums Institute) to help citizens find “pathways to democracy.” He has taught since 1971 at SUNY Broome Community College. He lives in Binghamton, NY. Doug Garnar at garndc@sunybroome.edu