Free and Fair Election

My local radio appearance on Air America AM 950 went well. Progressives are pretty receptive to my message. The theme was not Call to Liberty and bridging the divide, but rather the Free and Fair Elections Amendment, which I proposed in my book. I announced on air that we will be starting a discussion on our forums about the wording of the amendment. The original wording was too general in many ways, and it turns out that several state and lower courts have already issued opinions defining some of the terms in ways that are antagonistic to our intent. Hence, there is need to get more specific. But instead of laboring on my own, it seems better to get input and real ideas from others who care about this issue. The forum starts next week (the first week of September).

While much of America is working to reverse the problems introduced by electronic voting, some places are not. Check out this story from a town in Texas. 4/30/07

In Texas, new voter identification laws are being proposed which opponents criticize as a poll tax. One proposal, HB 626, would require a certified copy of a birth certificate, a passport or a naturalization certificate to register to vote. The Houston Chronicle notes:

“Considering the cost of certified copies of documents, these bills are, in effect, proposing a new poll tax. A certified copy of a birth certificate costs $23; a passport is $85; a naturalization certificate is $200.” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4739584.html

If it is a poll tax, such a law would be unconstitutional. The debate on electoral reform continues locked in the liberal-conservative split that makes rational discussion of these issues hard to generate. The Free and Fair Elections Amendment offers a different way.

My proposed Free and Fair Elections Amendment arose from a concern over electronic voting machines and the many problems they have produced since being introduced. But as I have waded into this debate, I’ve discovered that some of our fellow citizens are just as concerned about the legitimacy of the voter as I am about the legitimacy of the count of votes. I have focused on the count in public writing and presentations. The reality is that this amendment addresses the issues on both sides, and that’s why it is a perfect place for Americans to come together. We need to assure the integrity of our elections.

The proposed amendment calls for “…audited, voter-verified, certified…” vote. In the context of the voting machine debate, many have interpreted this as applying narrowly to the electronic trail of the votes. But the real meaning is much broader. By audit, we mean a complete audit of the process of voting, from the legitimacy of the citizen and voter registration, to who actually votes, to the accurate count of all the votes. It is an audit of the process, start-to-finish, just like if you were to go through a tax audit with the IRS. Certification and verification throughout the process is the standard. The citizens ought to have the right to such an audit.

One point of this amendment is to guarantee the confidence of the people in the outcome of the vote by ensuring that the entire process is free and fair. But this can only be verified by ensuring that the people have appropriate records, auditable trails, certifications to vote, and a paper ballot for purposes of recounting in case of disputes or machine malfunction.

As new voting technology has forced the issue, a unique opportunity to resolve all the issues in election process presents itself. The political process leaves these issues at the foot of partisan debates, and each party addressing only those parts of the issue that they feel are advantageous to them. The result is lack of confidence in the results, or even disenfranchisement, of large groups of citizen voters. This is why federal election standards, state-by-state patchwork of regulations, and other initiatives fall short. America needs to have the trust of its elections enshrined in the Constitution as a right of the people. Integrity of elections goes to the very dogma of Constitutional democracy; as we can see in other parts of the world, the fate of the republic stands on the trust of the people in those elections. The Free and Fair Elections Amendment is integral to the long term sustenance of our great nation.

Although hundreds of problems with election machines have been documented Sarasota County, Florida saw the worst and most obvious problems in the country last election day. Votes were undercounted by 18,000 votes, suggesting that either the ballots were bad or the machines lost the votes somehow.

The parties to the election are battling it out in court, fighting for and against recounts, and so forth. Other organizations are taking testimony from people to understand the problems. They are doing what they can. But the real loser in this is our democracy itself, and the right of the people to have their votes counted properly. What is needed in Sarasota is a class-action voter lawsuit for infringement of civil rights of the voters. People for the American Way, the ACLU, or a similar organization ought to organize voters and file that suit. State, local, and federal government needs to feel the heat of the voters on this. It is not the candidates who are disenfranchised by the loss of 18,000 votes, but rather the people ourselves. Nothing should be more basic to our democracy. In the long term, the only real solution is a Free and Fair Elections Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees the right of the people to paper ballots and accurate count of the votes. I’ve drafted and published it in my book Call to Liberty: Bridging the Divide Between Liberals and Conservatives, 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. In the short run, a proper lawsuit filed on behalf of the people of Sarasota could be challenged on the basis of the definition of civil rights. Those rights are stated in various places, but they do not appear in the dogma of the nation, the Constitution. This amendment makes accurate vote counting and proper record of the votes an integral part of the dogma of American democracy.