Voting Legislation

Senator Clinton is proposing legislation which would make Election Day a national holiday. Hmmm.. I suggested that in November. On reflection, I don't think it's a good idea for two reasons. The first is that I don't know that it would make for a larger voter turn-out. Those who want to vote find time to do so. Those who don't, won't. I have some concern that it would turn into a four day weekend for a lot of voters and cause an even lower voter turnout than we have now.

The second reason is one thing that Senator Clinton forgets: there is no national election day. Each state holds elections on specific dates. That all states holds national elections on the same day as their state elections is a matter of convenience. States cast their votes for president, but the popular vote doesn't really count. Our votes actually go toward the electoral votes cast by the Electoral College.

The Senator is also proposing that all felons be allowed to vote. I'm against that. Most (most, mind you, not all by any means) felons are poor and uneducated and mostly vote Democratic when they do vote. This is simply a ploy to get more Democratic voters into the mix.

In any case, Senator Clinton can only present Federal legislation. She has no right or authority to present legislation that effects (affects?) individual states. This is a state's rights issue, not a Federal issue. It's the individual states that allow citizens to vote, not Federal law. Amendment 10 states The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Since there is no place in the Constitution that gives anyone the "right" to vote, it becomes a state's right.

She is joined in this legislation by Senator John Kerry, Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and Senator Barbara Boxer. Senator Kerry made a point of saying "This has nothing to do with me," said Kerry. "It is not partisan, or shouldn't be." Funny, the four supporting this legislation are all Democrats. If that's not partisan, I don't know what is.

In addition to creating a federal holiday for voting, the bill would:
_Require paper receipts for votes.
_Authorize $500 million to help states make the changes in voting systems and equipment.
_Allow ex-felons to vote. Currently an estimated 4.7 million Americans are barred from voting because of their criminal records.
_Require adoption of the changes in time for the 2006 election.

I have no problem with requiring a paper trail at the polling place. If she wants a paper receipt to go to each voter, I don't see the point, unless it allows the voter to review their vote. This would cause longer waits at the polls as each person reviews their vote. Some will decide they voted incorrectly and need to revote. If one person has to vote twice, that makes one other person wait longer. Too many voting twice may cripple the lines. A paper receipt can lead to fraudulent voting. Say an unscrupulous person creates, say, 100 fraudulent receipts and gives them to more unscrupulous people. These people can go to the polling place and say they voted incorrectly and want to re-vote. They may not have voted in the first place, but because they have a receipt, they may be allowed to vote "again." Measures would have to be in place to keep this from happening.

Where is the $500 million dollars coming from?

Felons who want to vote can petition the appropriate jurisdictions in their states to request to have their rights restored. It's not a difficult process and if it is, maybe that should be revisited. To give all felons the right to vote is absurd. It's akin to allowing all illegal aliens amnesty. It's not a good thing.

The only way this legislation could change state law is by Constitutional amendment. That takes 3/4 of the states to ratify the amendment and could take up to seven years to do so. Senator Clinton wants it passed by 2006.

Boxer said the bill "is meant to ensure the election debacle of 2000, and the serious election irregularities of 2004, never ever happen again."

Both parties have called for changes to ensure a more accurate vote count. Republican efforts have centered on reducing voter fraud, while Democrats have called for making access to the ballot box easier and simpler.

More accurate voter count? Is that to be sure that more people vote Democrat or more Democrat votes are counted? I agree with having a more accurate count. I hate the count and recount and recount that we've gone through the last two election cycles. I also agree that making access to the ballot box easier and simpler. But I don't agree that everyone should be allowed to vote.

The Democrats want to be sure that all votes count. How about military votes? They aren't saying much about those. I don't think they will since the military usually votes Republican. The Democrats aren't interested in making access to the ballot box easier and simpler for everyone. Just those who will more probably vote Democratic.