I have frequently been asked: Why are you proposing to amend the Constitution over the issue of electoral reform? The reason is simple: the integrity of elections goes to the very heart of legitimate self-government, and nothing other than an amendment will guarantee free and fair elections today and in the future.
In American liberal democracy, a profound flexibility is built into the system through the ability to change statutes, regulations, and even interpretations of law by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The executive is the most changeable and progressive, while the judicial is the most conservative and protective. But the base of the entire system of a democratic republic is expressed dogmatically in the Constitution, that document adopted by the people to guide the way in which we choose to self-govern. Because of that, the Constitution is very hard to change: Both houses of Congress, the President, and three-fourths of all the state legislatures must approve an amendment for it to be changed. That is a high, long-term bar.
In the reasoning of the Supreme Court that gave the 2000 election to George W. Bush, Chief Justice Rehnquist pointed out that the U.S. Constitution does not grant the right to vote, much less to have the vote counted accurately. For many Americans, that fact was a shock. It means that we have no right to free and fair elections, no right to vote, no right to have the votes counted accurately—in essence, no right to truly self-govern. How does a democracy function if there is no foundational right to vote?
Any attempt to correct these problems with executive, legislative, or even judicial actions may be overturned, changed, or tweaked—and still will not grant the people the fundamental right to vote and have the votes counted accurately. Only an amendment to the Constitution can achieve that. The amendment I propose is as follows:
A well-regulated election, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to an audited, voter-verified, certified paper record of the vote, shall not be infringed.
Note that the wording is very much like that of the second amendment which guarantees the right to bear arms. It states the essential nature of a well-regulated election to a free state and a secure state, and specifies the nature of the right. And, the last phrase is not subject to capricious interpretation: “…shall not be infringed.”
This amendment defines the basis on which all the regulations, laws, and judicial interpretations must be based. It is clear, to the point, concise, and strong. I invite comments from readers of this blog.
