There are three basic principles underlying the notion of elections: every eligible voter should be able to vote, nobody should get more than one vote, and everyone’s votes should be counted correctly. Sounds simple. It is when those three basic principles are subject to manipulation that politics gets involved.

Every eligible voter should be able to vote. Fundamentally, anyone who believes in representative democracy has to agree with this, though efforts to define eligibility for partisan gain has an ignoble history in this country. The acceptance of the very idea of universal suffrage is considerably younger than the notion of democracy in America. Even after universal suffrage was granted in theory, poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and purging of voter rolls and any number of other techniques have all been used for partisan advantage.

Lately the second of the basic principle - nobody should get to vote more than once - has been used as rationale for attacks on the first. Proposals for a National Voter ID will undoubtedly have the effect of disenfranchising millions of voters, primarily elderly, infirm, poor, and disabled voters. Though few would argue with the presumed intent of a National Voter ID, making sure nobody votes twice, the result of such a provision is reprehensible to those who believe in democratic principles.

The last principle - everyone’s vote should be counted correctly - presumably has no partisan advantage – it’s about fair play and the integrity of the democratic process. It’s time to stop using “election reform” as a tool for partisan advantage and make sure that every vote is counted accurately and transparently.