Elections In America: New Report By Presidential Commission

The Presidential Commission on Election Administration, a bipartisan commission co-chaired by Robert Bauer (democrat) and Benjamin L. Ginsburg (republican) has just issued its 112-page report: http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/pcea-final-report.pdf

Anyone experienced in the vagaries of elections and election law in the United States should read the report. The problems of election administration in this country are well summarized in the introduction:

"The United States runs its elections unlike any other country in the world. Responsi-

bility for elections is entrusted to local officials in approximately 8,000 different juris-

dictions. In turn, they are subject to general oversight by officials most often chosen

through a partisan appointment or election process. The point of contact for voters in

the polling place is usually a temporary employee who has volunteered for one-day duty

and has received only a few hours of training. These defining features of our electoral

system, combined with the fact that Americans vote more frequently on more issues

and offices than citizens anywhere else, present unique challenges for the effective ad-

ministration of elections that voters throughout the country expect and deserve."

That's the problem in a nutshell.

Problems were even worse before the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. There have been significant recent improvements in administration of Uniformed and Overseas Civilian voting.

The report sets forth many recommendations and best practices to improve the administration of elections for the benefit of voters. I have taken a quick look at the report. Up until last year, North Carolina election procedures stood up very well to the suggested recommendations and best practices. In Pamlico County, we have had very well run elections administered by very conscientious polling officials, many with long years of experience and training.

Unfortunately, in my view, the General Assembly has passed legislation introducing new and totally unnecessary obstacles to voting.

I'll have more to say about this in future posts.