Free Republic

Senator Joe Manchin signaled his desire for a compromise on the “For the People Act” — the Democrats’ massive voting reform and campaign finance reform bill.Republicans see the bill as a naked power grab by Democrats. The bill would federalize elections, repeal state election integrity laws, reimpose the Voting Rights Act in places where it isn’t necessary, and invite fraud. It would also rig political fundraising to the Democrats’ advantage.Manchin supports several significant changes in the bill and demands that it be a bipartisan effort before he signs on. He also opposes any changes to the filibuster to get it...

WE agreed to lead the Commission on Federal Election Reform because of our shared concern that too many Americans lack confidence in the electoral process, and because members of Congress are divided on the issue and busy with other matters. This week, we issued a report that bridges the gap between the two parties' perspectives and offers a comprehensive approach that can help end the sterile debate between ballot access and ballot integrity. Unfortunately, some have misrepresented one of our 87 recommendations. As a result, they have deflected attention from the need for comprehensive reform. Our recommendations are intended to...

The 2004 election -- arguably the most scrutinized ever held in the United States -- has spotlighted problems with the voting process that are decades old and long overlooked. Voter intimidation, disenfranchisement, fairness, partisanship of election officials and several other issues are getting the most attention in Ohio, where two lawsuits were filed Friday contesting the counting of provisional ballots and the overall results. But it is citizen groups and individual voters rather than political candidates or parties that are demanding that the problems be addressed. This lack of trust in the voting system, experts say, has spawned a dynamic...

According to the press, John McCain’s campaign finance legislation has saved the nation and will cause all corruption to melt away…or something like that. That’s wonderful, but McCain and his fellow “reformers” don’t seem to understand what really bedevils American democracy. Forget the lobbyists and special interest groups. Like them or not, they do have a legitimate role to play, and whatever excesses they commit are well documented (and heartily denounced) by both the media and countless watchdog groups. Furthermore, lobbyists’ actions already were proscribed carefully by law long before McCain-Feingold. Instead, our republic sustains far greater damage on Election...