Another election day
has passed. Democrats have taken control of the US House
of Representatives, while Republicans have strengthened their hold on the US
Senate. This likely means continuing gridlock
in Washington, but the size of the turnout indicates more Americans are paying
attention and are willing to seek change at the polls. Issues concerning legitimacy and fairness in
our election processes, however, remain unanswered and must be addressed because
they endanger our democracy.
Since the US
Constitution grants individual states significant authority in determining how
and by whom public officials at all
levels of government might be chosen, we do not have a unified election system,
but 51 different essentially autonomous systems. This worked reasonable well in the early days
of the republic, but as the nation’s borders expanded and as our population has
become more mobile, the wisdom of a purely state-based system has become more
and more problematic. Several issues require action.
First is the matter
of gerrymandering electoral districts for representation in both the US
Congress and in the individual state legislatures. Not a new problem, but one
that has been exacerbated by new technological and polling tools allowing
collection of massive voting data which enables precise partisan
gerrymandering.
North Carolina and
South Carolina reflect this new phenomenon.
In the former the overall congressional vote in 2018 was nearly equal,
but the GOP won ten of NC’s thirteen seats, a 77 percent edge. A Democrat pulled off an upset in the SC
congressional district that includes Charleston, in part because the Republican
candidate favors off-shore oil drilling, an anathema to coastal residents. Still, with 55 percent of the overall
congressional vote, the GOP won five of SC’s seven seats, a 71 percent advantage. Representation in the two state legislatures
is similarly distorted by partisan manipulation.
Second, the 2013
decision of the US Supreme Court in Shelby
County v. Holder eviscerated the 1965 Voting Rights Act that required
states with records of discriminating against minorities to obtain from the US
Department of Justice “preclearance” for any changes in election laws or
procedures before implementation. Almost
immediately the covered states, and some others, initiated a wide ranging set
of laws and procedures designed to suppress voter participation.
On the surface some changes
appear reasonable.
The archaic voter
registration process needs reform. Communication
among the states is lacking which results in some voters being registered in
more than one state. But there is little
evidence voters have taken advantage of this situation; certainly, not
sufficient to justify the purging of millions of voters from registration lists
that has happened since 2013. In Georgia alone, 1.5 million voters were stricken
from the voter lists.
At the same time the
US Census Bureau estimates there are 245.5 million Americans ages 18 and older,
but fewer than 160 million are registered to vote. Maybe registration reform needs a different
focus.
Requiring a form of
photo ID has some merit, but not everyone drives a car and can take advantage
of the Motor Voter Act, nor has every state implemented that law aggressively. Furthermore, there is not uniformity as to acceptable
photo IDs. Many exceptions obviously
reflect a bias against certain groups such as minorities, students, the elderly
and the poor which cannot be justified.
Finally, the act of
voting itself needs improvement. There
is no uniformity among the states regarding ballot design, early voting, absentee
voting, mail or online voting, much less the type of electronic voting
machinery used. Given the national focus
of elections today, the lack of common standards and schedules contributes to
voter confusion and discouragement, which in some states may be the intent.
Stories of Russian
meddling in the 2016 presidential contest raised public awareness of vulnerabilities
in electronic voting equipment. Possibilities
for hacking exist at several points in the election processes and not just by
foreign entities. Although South
Carolina does not use machines that provide a paper trail and allow for postelection
audits, most states do. However, few
states conduct regular audits and the chaos in Florida and Georgia this year
confirms the lack of attention to voter tabulation.
Americans cannot
tolerate continued incoherence in our election processes. We cannot ignore threats to legitimacy and
fairness until the next election cycle.
Nor can we reasonably expect the individual states to craft a more
harmonious and equitable system, but the US Constitution recognizes that
reality. Article IV, Section 4 of the US
Constitution guarantees every state a “Republican Form of Government.” Whether or not you define “republican” as “democratic,”
it still means “representative.” Also, the 14th Amendment indicates if
the right to vote is denied, “or in any way abridged,” the representation of
that state shall be reduced proportionately.
The authority for reform
is there. Congress must find the will to
act, or our democracy will remain endangered.
