Political Junkie, Part 3

It's 11:42 am here and the usual stories dominate the politically tuned airways and websites. We've got voting problems. Surprise!

I routinely remind my students that the wealthiest democracy in the world hands its elections off to its most neglected and underfunded level of government -- county government. Go ahead and name one person you have voted for this year or in the past as part of your county government. I bet you can't. I can't. It's the redheaded stepchild of American governance -- always around but hopefully doesn't really matter. Our poll workers are poorly paid, minimally trained gracious citizens who do their best to handle whatever the day throws at them. Our votes are counted by machines that most of the election supervisors are clueless about. We really are lucky that the 2000 election is rare on the national level. On the local level it is a common occurrence.

This is not to claim a great conspiracy to steal your vote. This is simply a lament that the vote we claim to hold so precious is so neglected. There are no clear standards for voting machines or any public officials who can affirm their honesty. We hand that all off to private companies. There is no demand for people to get repeated and exhaustive training with pay to be poll workers and make sure technicians are available to quickly fix problems. We don't even have voting hours in most states that don't require people to rush before or after work to get a chance to vote. Oh yeah, we also let heavily partisan individuals head election boards and be a state's secretary of state and just have their promise to make decisions without partisan bias. Katherine Harris got all the attention in 2000, but in 2006 the Ohio Secretary of State who is running for Governor at one point said he would decide if his opponent was qualified to be on the ballot based on some obscure rule or another.

Yep, that's American voting. We could go to 24 hour voting. We could have a specific revenue from all levels of governance dedicated to paying for our voting needs. We won't, but we could. Two days after the votes are in everyone goes back to the their lives and forget voting. Only political junkies like me and the glorious folks at organizations such as The League of Women Voters continue to care and try to get attention. But it is county government and nobody cares.

So as you hear of voting problems today, don't automatically assume that it is an attack by one party of the other on your right to vote. It is most likely the result of our collective negligence. Pay more attention to stories of actual intimidation and attempts at generating frustration and confusion to keep voters from even going to the polls. These don't wait for election day. Keep an eye out. If you see something strange, speak up. If you need help, call 866-OUR-VOTE. The National Campaign for Fair Elections has lawyers familiar with every state's laws standing by to assist you.