These problems will not get better on their own. The epic Left VS Right battle continues on in Congress today, and it is unlikely that without sufficient prodding by the public that they will ever stop bickering and settle down to try to fix things.
If for just a few minutes, both Democrats and Republicans can agree, and raise their voices to Congress together, there would be no stopping us.
So we are working on a few important issues to both parties to try to come to a solution.
This is where we need YOUR help. Here are some basic guidelines we've come up with so far speaking to various Democrats and Republicans (and so far, we've kept them in the same room for a while and no one's been trying to kill each other over the Washington Governors race...yet *shiver*)
I'm posting here because I want YOUR opinions. I want your suggestions/critisims on these guidelines so that we can better satisfy what all people want.
I own the domain votefraud.us, and it is going to go live in about a week. This is going to be our mission, to prevent fiasos like the Washington Gubernatorial circus.
(Please keep the Dem bashing soft, at least on this particular thread. I just want to know what YOU think would be necessary for a voting amendment.)
In full disclosure, this will be discussed on DU as well.
Here are the guidelines we've (somewhat) agreed on so far:
1- Just showing up and signing our name to a piece of paper is NOT sufficent enough identification to get a Driver's License in most states. Therefore, it should NOT be sufficent enough to cast a vote in a national election. A picture ID should be REQUIRED, as well as a voter's registration card (and correct address). This is NOT an outrageous request. This can go a long way to ensure that fraudulent votes are not cast, as well as ensuring that people vote only one time.
2- We would not wait in line to get a Driver's License for sixteen hours. Therefore, we should not have to wait sixteen hours to vote. Early voting needs to be implemented in every single state, and we also need to make sure that there is sufficent equiment for everyone to vote in a timely manner.
3- Just as we would not accept most banking transactions without a paper receipt, we should not accept electronic voting without a receipt. We need to be able to ensure that a vote was counted the way it was cast. The obvious danger here is that a party could 'buy out' the election, paying a hacker (or insider) to sway an election one way or the other. (Both Dem's and Republican's have sizeable pocketbooks, need I remind you)
4- When votes are tabulated at the end of the election day, we need equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans doing the counting. Campaign officials STAY OUT, volunteers only. This way, the opportunity of one party 'stealing/stacking the votes' decreases dramatically because there will be the opposition breathing down their necks as they count.
5- If you are involved as a high ranking official of a campaign, stay OUT of the official voting process. If you are in such a position (such as Secretary of State), then STEP ASIDE. Whether you are biased or not, it can be considered a problem to the integrity of the process and will be cause for question later on. (slander, ect.)
6- Two days after the election is over, an equal number of representatives from each party's campaign should be allowed to go back and audit votes down the the county level if requested. If county XYZ has high Democratic registration but high Republican voting (or persay, we find a month later two hundred ballots stuffed in a drawer somewhere), then the campaigns have the right to go back and audit. If nothing else, this will help ease people's fears and will go a long way to making sure that individual counties keep good records that are open to scrutiny.
7- If you are denied the ability to vote for whatever reason, there will be a log for you to sign at the poll. You will recieve a receipt that designates a place, date, and time to show up at the local Government Center (much like court). Ballots will be on hand, and as a voter you will be entitled to a review of your right to vote. Having an appointment such as this can solve many problems. Those who have recently moved or whatnot can get simple misunderstandings cleared up, and will then be provided with a ballot and can vote. The log and receipt that you will recieve will ensure that only people who show up to a polling place on November 2nd (or earlier, if voting early) will be entitled to these 'hearings'. This will help relieve a lot of 'voter disenfranchisement'. This date must be set before the certification of election results in the state.
"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser." - Socrates
Many of these points not only protect the right to vote, but prevent the 'slander' that could occur afterwards. Peole would have more confidence that the voting process was upheld with integrity.
All right guys, this is where YOU GUYS can come in! We CAN do this, we can make sure that all future elections can be free and fair, and we won't have to worry about them as much.
Critisims, suggestions (or if you would be interested in helping out with the website when it goes live), post away! If you have suggestion that's not listed here, post it!
Democracy at its finest, guys. We can do it!
"Integrity is one of several paths. It distinguishes itself from the others because it is the right path... And the only one upon which you will never get lost." -M.H. McKee
(Forgive the spelling errors, I have been awake for 31 hours straight.)
I am in favor of requiring a picture ID. That would be one of the best impediments to voter fraud we could have, and the cost would be minimal.
ping
You may be asking a bit much from the Dems. They are having some rather tough sledding right now. If you take away fraudulent voting, they may just completely evaporate.
Requiring valid IDs, which has to be the cornerstone of any voting reform package, will meet with nothing but the stiffest resistance.
That said, I wish you luck in your endeavor.
In Arkansas as I'm as sure is in many states Vote fraud is a FELONY!! I have never heard of vote fraud laws anywhere ever been enforced. If it never has been prosecuted, WHY??
I'd like to see all those who receive money from the government restricted from voting. As long as they're collecting money, there's a conflict of interest and they shouldn't be able to vote. That would take 70% of the democrats off the rolls.
If you require a picture ID how will the illegal aliens and the Chicago precincts of Baltimore MD ever deliver for our beloved Democrats.
Or is the problem the lack of enforcement of existing laws?
What makes you think that any new law would be enforced?
Vote Fraud has been common in Illinois for over a century. Only on rare occasions will a prosecutor come down with a token indictment the week before election day. Vote Fraud is ignored by both R and D prosecutors, both County, State and Federal prosecutors. Numerous solid cases (with all the reasearch, witnesses and what they will testify to notarized and evidence) have been given to allegedly crime fighting, law-and-order prosecutors by me directly, and by my friends and apparently by strangers to me. The prosecutors are usually too busy having lunch with the person they would have to indict.
In the cases like the current US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, he is apparently too busy chasing million dollar bribery and extortion to deal with violations where the bribe involved is so small it is only a misdemeanor.
In other words, vote fraud is cheap and common. The reality is that the way to fight it is for the GOP (in Dem areas) to not write off those Dem areas, but to spend the time and money to go into those Dem areas and increase the GOP voter from 5% to 35% which can be done in the inner city with hard work. Of course, 35% does not carry that small district. But it sure helps to win statewide and to win the larger districts.
But listen to Blackwell's Conservative Leadership Institute and to all the professional paid consultants and they consistently tell the GOP to write off the areas where they cannot win and limit campaigning to solely those areas where they can win.
Maybe we get what we deserve.
These are all good. Only one more thing I would add- stretch the voting period out, perhaps moving it to a friday and the weekend perhaps. A lot of people work and would benefit from having another day to vote.
I would love to see election reform like this- if all the fraud is denied, no dem may ever get elected again! ;)
Why? Votes are not aggregated across state lines. After all we have the electoral college. Why should my state lower its standards to match Illinois. With the electoral college, racking up a huge fraudulent margin for a presidential ticket does not improve that ticket's national standing. Once a state is firmly in one candidate's or another's column, there is no advantage to putting more campaign resources into that state.