Election Reform
Since the electoral meltdown in the 2000 presidential election, each Election Day has raised new alarms that the foundation of our democracy - the right to vote in free and fair elections - remains beset with problems. Years after serious problems were exposed to the public, it has become increasingly apparent that our elections system is technologically, legally, and administratively inadequate and unfair.
Our broad goals for overhauling the nation’s system of voting include:
- Access: Increase access to voting by removing existing barriers, changing registration and voting practices, and ensuring voting rights for all Americans.
- Accuracy: Safeguard our voting systems by passing federal and state legislation to enhance voting machine accuracy and security.
- Accountability: Hold election officials accountable by passing legislation prohibiting partisan activity and establishing strict conflict of interest laws
During the 2008 election season, Common Cause produced groundbreaking research on a number of election topics:
- Voting in 2008: Ten Swing States: As election officials brace for record-breaking voter turnout on Election Day, a close examination of voting preparedness in 10 swing states shows that significant problems in the basic functions of the American election administration system persist.
- Deceptive Practices 2.0:This report describes potential online dirty tricks to disseminate false or misleading information over the Internet, and examines existing state and federal laws that might be used to stop these worrying scams.
- Is America Ready to Vote?: State Preparations for Voting Machine Problems in 2008: This 50-state report card grades each state on its preparedness for election system breakdowns and offers concrete steps election officials can take in the weeks before the election to make sure every vote is counted accurately.
- Voting in 2008: Lessons Learned: There was no catastrophic meltdowns in the election system in 2008, thanks in large part to the hard work of the voting rights community and election administrators. At the same time, thousands and thousands of voters faced unacceptable barriers to voting this year, demonstrating that much more work remains to be done.
Moving forward, Common Cause is focused on the following issues:
Voter Verified Paper Ballots
Eliminating Faulty Electronic Voting Machines
A major priority is passage of legislation at the federal and state levels to protect citizens’ votes in the event of electronic voting machine malfunction or hacking. Such legislation would require all voting systems to use paper ballots or produce paper records that would be subject to random mandatory audits. The fact that voters would mark the ballots themselves, or at least verify physical paper records of their votes, would assure there could be a check on the electronic count. Additionally, if a recount were needed - there would be paper records or ballots that the voters have reviewed that can be recounted.
Deceptive Practices
Criminalizing Voter Suppression Tactics
In the last several election cycles, “deceptive practices” have been perpetrated in order to suppress voting and skew election results. Usually targeted at minorities and in minority neighborhoods, deceptive practices are the intentional dissemination of false or misleading information about the voting process with the intent to prevent an eligible voter from casting a ballot. It is an insidious form of vote suppression that often goes unaddressed by authorities and the perpetrators are virtually never caught. Common Cause strongly supports federal legislation outlawing deceptive practices.
DC Voting Rights
Righting a 200-Year Injustice
The nearly 600,000 Americans living in the District of Columbia have had no representation in Congress since 1801. Common Cause is fighting to pass the DC Voting Rights Act, which would provide the District with a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (along with an additional seat that would go to Utah until the next reapportionment).
Redistricting
Eliminating Partisan Gerrymandering
Common Cause supports the creation of independent redistricting commissions to draw legislative district lines, as opposed to the current system that consists mostly of state legislators drawing district lines to protect their seats and preserve their party’s power. In seeking to take the redistricting process out of the hands of partisan politicians and to establish fair criteria to guide the redistricting process, Common Cause’s goal is to create legislative and congressional districts that are representative of the population and districting plans that result in more competitive congressional and legislative districts.
Voting By Mail
Making Elections Run Smoothly
Voting by mail, used everywhere in Oregon and extensively in Washington state, is a process that makes voting more convenient for voters, thus removing a number of the hurdles created by voting machine shortages, long lines, voter intimidation and the inconveniences of in-person voting. Common Cause supports pilot projects to further study the benefits and problems of voting by mail.
Voter Registration
Registering Proactively and on Election Day
The voter registration process in the United States is too often a barrier to voter participation. In 2006, only 76 percent of the voting age population was registered. There are significant demographic differences between those who are registered and those who aren’t, with registered voters being considerably older, wealthier, and more white than eligible voters. Common Cause supports a number of reforms that would help all eligible citizens register and vote.
National Popular Vote
Counting Every Vote for President Equally
Common Cause supports changing the Electoral College’s current allocation system to one where states agree to cast their electoral votes for the candidate who wins the national popular vote. The U.S. Constitution gives each state the authority to choose its own system for picking electors, and over our history states have used a variety of methods for doing so. By acting together, states can choose to elect the president who wins the national popular vote.
Other Reforms
Increasing Access, Accuracy and Accountability
• Fair and Effective Voter Database Management Protocols. A number of states have developed fair and effective voter database management protocols so that voters are not inadvertently purged from the rolls. These ‘best practices’ should be adopted nationwide.
• Nonpartisan Administration of Elections. Common Cause believes that chief election officials should not be permitted to participate in political campaigns.
• Stopping Passage of Onerous Voter Identification Laws. Overly restrictive voter ‘identification ‘ laws in a number of states have had the intended or unintended effect of keeping eligible Americans - most often the elderly, minority, and low-income citizens - from voting in the name of fraud prevention. While Common Cause supports reasonable fraud prevention measures, there is no evidence of a widespread problem, and many states have good laws designed to eliminate voter fraud through much less burdensome requirements to verify identity.
• Early Voting and No-excuse Absentee Voting. Common Cause is working to establish ‘no-excuse’ absentee and early in-person voting in every state.
• Fair and Effective Voter Database Management Protocols. A number of states have developed fair and effective voter database management protocols so that voters are not inadvertently purged from the rolls. These ‘best practices’ should be adopted nationwide.