Friday, August 12, 2005
Last Stop!
We've done abortion, education, Iraq, and civil rights. Each one of which is important to the Democratic party in its own right. But tonight the bumper sticker campaign closes out with an issue that I feel deserves more attention: Election reform. I believe that this is a much more important issue than any of our elected officials are making it out to be. Why? Because all of our elected officials won. When you win you don't question the results.
With today's technology it would seem that we could come up with a verifiable way to count the votes in this country. When I go to the ATM I get a receipt that tells me exactly how much money I withdrew and how much money is left in my account. Why can't I get a paper receipt when I vote? Of course the argument is that it would compromise the secrecy of the vote. But that's only if I'm allowed to take the receipt with me when I leave. Here's my proposal. With all electronic voting machines there needs to be a printout. This "receipt" would serve two purposes:
In my opinion, election reform could be the issue that re-connects the Democratic party with average voter. If the Democrats would push for election reform that included verifiable paper trails how could the Republicans oppose it without looking like fools. Once passed, it could virtually ensure that every vote cast would indeed be counted. Who doesn't want their vote to count? (Not to mention, it would alleviate all those pesky little voter fraud cases that seem to be dogging the Republicans lately.)
So for the final challenge, we need a bumper sticker that sums up the need for election reform. Something that expresses the need to count every vote and the urgency of the situation. I think that this needs to be a major platform for the Democratic Party in the months to come. Force the Republicans to either ride our coattails or get backed into the proverbial corner.
So let's hear 'em.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you all back here on Monday.
With today's technology it would seem that we could come up with a verifiable way to count the votes in this country. When I go to the ATM I get a receipt that tells me exactly how much money I withdrew and how much money is left in my account. Why can't I get a paper receipt when I vote? Of course the argument is that it would compromise the secrecy of the vote. But that's only if I'm allowed to take the receipt with me when I leave. Here's my proposal. With all electronic voting machines there needs to be a printout. This "receipt" would serve two purposes:
- The voter would be able to verify that the vote they cast was properly registered
- The "receipt" could then be deposited in a recepticle to be used for a hand recount if the need arises.
In my opinion, election reform could be the issue that re-connects the Democratic party with average voter. If the Democrats would push for election reform that included verifiable paper trails how could the Republicans oppose it without looking like fools. Once passed, it could virtually ensure that every vote cast would indeed be counted. Who doesn't want their vote to count? (Not to mention, it would alleviate all those pesky little voter fraud cases that seem to be dogging the Republicans lately.)
So for the final challenge, we need a bumper sticker that sums up the need for election reform. Something that expresses the need to count every vote and the urgency of the situation. I think that this needs to be a major platform for the Democratic Party in the months to come. Force the Republicans to either ride our coattails or get backed into the proverbial corner.
So let's hear 'em.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you all back here on Monday.
