Elections need improving
On the night he was re-elected, President Barack Obama thanked all the voters who cast ballots that day, “whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time.”
He then added, “We need to fix that.”
Obama was right. In a country that prides itself both on the strength of its democracy and its ingenuity, voters should not have to camp on sidewalks for hours on end, missing work and enduring the vicissitudes of the weather, in order to exercise their franchise. Last week, a bipartisan presidential commission that had been asked to look at ways to improve the elections process in America released a 112-page report of solid recommendations that would likely improve voter participation.
Among the panel’s recommendations are simplifying voting for Americans living abroad and members of the military in overseas outposts, using more schools as polling places, updating equipment and, sensibly, allowing states to share voter registration records to prevent fraud.
The latter recommendation should be sufficient to satisfy proponents of voter ID laws, who say they are being implemented to stop fraud, even though there’s virtually no evidence that fraud bedevils our elections.
Many reports like these tend to be trotted out with fanfare and then forgotten. Let’s hope this one meets a different fate.