With the upcoming Republican convention in Tampa, I thought it a good time to suggest one of my pet slogans – One Citizen One Vote. Maybe someone will pick up on it. From my previous blog on the Dead Vote I commented on the sloppiness in our current system with keeping voter rolls up to date. That issue extends beyond dead voters. We are wasting more and more time dealing with recounts and legal challenges. It undermines voter confidence in the system.
Why does it have to be so difficult to let each person cast their vote accurately and efficiently? I think part of the issue comes from the independence of states and counties to implement voting. If you look at all the different types of voting systems used – you find differences down to the county level. If you look at the legal rulings, decisions are made at federal, state and county level. So with all these independent entities collecting votes using different systems and different rules – is it any wonder that the results are sloppy?
This doesn’t even touch the issue of voter fraud. Frankly, I’m stunned that people feel someone doesn’t need to show a legal form of identification to vote in this country. Legal ID is necessary to book a hotel room, fly on an airplane, register a car, and cash checks at the bank. In today’s highly technological society, we are all identified before we can do anything. Unless you want to live in the woods, grow your own food and never talk to another person, you’ll need legal identification. End of debate.
My concern is that this is an uncoordinated set of laws and systems that are only really seen at election time. Everyone complains, they struggle to get through the process, and then say “Whew!” done with that … and wait to complain again during the next election. Perhaps this is one of the areas where we can stimulate some job growth. Cleaning up our election system.
Flying Below the Radar 