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Arcata, The Voter Confidence Resolution, and the Importance of Paying Attention |
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By Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy, VoteTrustUSA
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September 16, 2005 |
The city council of Arcata in Humboldt County, California recently
passed a “Voter Confidence Resolution” as reported in an article (link)
that has been reprinted on many websites. The resolution, a year and a
half in the making and promoted by Humboldt resident and Green
Party Presidential candidate David Cobb, gained the support of a wide
range of citizens and public interest groups. It establishes a specific
platform of election reform measures aimed at encouraging
participation, enhancing representation, and ensuring confidence in the
accuracy and security of the election process.
One of the resolution’s authors, Dave Berman, feels this type of
initiative, if adopted by cities throughout the country, could have a
decisive impact on voter confidence. It would also focus attention on
the election process. The article quoted Berman pointing out that
”we must first change the national dialogue". Berman’s call for a
national dialogue of the election process seems both obvious and
elusive. It also seems crucial to the cause of ensuring the
integrity of our elections. The efforts of those supporting the
resolution in Arcata also highlight the necessity of local action.
The resolution rests on a comprehensive eight-point platform that
addresses clean money campaigns, election holiday, equal time
provisions, more open presidential debates, and preferential voting.
It also calls for publicly owned and operated voting processes, voter
verified paper records, and public and local citizen oversight of
vote
counting.
The fact that one would expect such a resolution to emerge from a
progressive college town like Arcata should in no way diminish the
significance of its success. Not only is proactive election reform at
the local, county, and municipal level the most promising avenue for
change in terms of resources and influence, it is also the only venue
that will really work.
Lobbying for federal election reform legislation earlier this year, I
found myself in Senator Trent Lott’s Rules Committee office, where I
encountered the argument that we, the voter verified paper ballot
advocates present, should be taking our concerns to the county level.
After all, the argument went, that’s where elections are administered.
At the time, it seemed like yet another ‘state’s rights’ dismissive
argument of convenience. After all, there was no way to mobilize in
the 3000 plus counties of the country, and it would be so much easier
if federal legislators just did the right thing and established a
national paper record requirement.
What seemed impossible eight months ago now seems not only possible,
but essential. In just the past few days, I have heard pleas from
leaders in several election hotspot states calling for ways to reach
activists in “all those other counties", the ones they don't have
contacts in - yet. Unlike even a year ago, there’s now an excellent
chance that they’ll be able to find them and get them involved and our
elections will be more secure when they do.
The movement for more transparent and accurate elections has grown
exponentially in the past year. The message has been refined and
enriched through the successes and disappointments of activists in
many states; through the analysis of election data; through the
research into voting technology; through the discussion and sharing of
information among concerned citizens across the country. The
foundation has been laid for the “vigilance” that Thomas Jefferson
warned is “the price of freedom”.
Many state legislatures have passed election reform bills since the
last elections. Secretaries of State have issued orders and reports,
election boards have certified, de-certified, and re-certified, and
while the federal government has been frustratingly inert, at least
the Election Assistance Commission has begun the woefully delayed
process of providing guidelines. But in the end, the rubber hits the
road at the county level, and county and local election commissioners,
clerks, auditors, and administrators across the country are making
decisions that will profoundly affect the way votes are cast and
counted in November 2006.
There have been several proposals for increasing independent citizen
involvement in the election process. Promoting precinct level data
collection and informed and diligent poll watching like that organized
in some counties in Georgia and elsewhere in 2004 would increase
critical Election Day scrutiny. It would also require broad based
cooperation among national and local election integrity organizations.
Well before Election Day, concerned constituents need to develop
positive relationships, whenever possible, with local election
officials. The election integrity movement must build coalitions with
other public interest groups – confidence in elections should be
every
political action movement’s second issue.
The elections in 2006 will be a beta test, even more so than usual.
Most provisions of the Help America Vote Act will be in effect, though
their interpretation and implementation will no doubt continue to be
debated. Many states will have new voter verified paper record
requirements. Mandatory statewide random audits will be conducted for
the first time in many states. Every state, and to a great extent
every county, will be facing a unique matrix of federal and state laws
and regulations, adapting their existing voting technology and
blending it or replacing it with new.
Those who have been working locally on the issue already know this.
It’s time to get the word out to activists in every county, focusing
their attention on how America votes. People need to be talking about
these issues now rather than after the election. Arcata has
demonstrated that the activists are there – they just need to be
brought into the process.
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