The chairman of the Washington State Democratic Party, appearing yesterday on a liberal talk radio program, startled the host by declaring that “God has placed” Christine Gregoire in the state governor’s chair. Perhaps this is a sign that Democrats are starting to try to connect to religiously observant voters. Perhaps it indicates that chairman Berendt has a rather distinctive concept of deity.
The “god” who moved in these mysterious ways was the King County canvassing board, whose Democratic majority has continuously found new votes and reclassified old ones throughout the recount process. (Sound Politics has an eyewitness account of some of the strange goings on.) Mayor Daley (Richard J., that is, not the anemic Richard M.) used to do the same thing, but Da Mare had the finesse to produce his magical mystery ballots on election night itself. Another sign of how old-fashioned craftsmanship has decayed.
It is unlikely that Republican candidate Dino Rossi can do anything to reverse this outcome, fraudulent though it may be. King County’s slipshod election procedures make it almost impossible to separate deliberate cheating from sort of honest mistakes. In any case, the Democrats have several hundred late-found, not-yet-counted ballots in reserve.
Unless the state GOP has a tactical nuke in readiness, the wise course of action is to yield gracefully, as John Thune did when he “lost” the heavily tainted South Dakota Senate election in 2002. A prolonged legal battle will be chancy, and victory could well be Pyrrhic.
Instead of fighting on this ground, we need to look at how to prevent future fiascos of this kind. If “Governor” Gregoire unintentionally sparks a drive for genuine election reform, she will have done more good than she can do harm as chief executive of Washington State.
The clearest obstacles to reliable elections (aside from the incorrigible partisanship that inspires men to try to steal them) are mail-in ballots and slipshod procedures for verifying voter eligibility. Mailed ballots aren’t cast secretly and, as Washington’s experience demonstrates, pass through too many hands to be trusted. It is bad enough that voters mostly don’t have to present identification at the polls. It is intolerable that no one can know who really filled out one cast via the Post Office.
It would be a great surprise, to say the least, if a Democratic governor and Democrat-majority legislature took any steps to reform a system that has served them so well. One can only hope that reform will prove to be so potent issue in the 2006 election that King County can’t overpower the rest of the state. For federal elections, meanwhile, there is recourse outside Olympia. Congress has the ultimate authority to prescribe “the Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives”. Let me suggest a short, simple package of reforms:
All votes must be cast in person, unless the voter will be absent from his home county on election day for a good reason. Casting an absentee ballot without good cause should be a criminal offense. (That may sound drastic, but the practice needs to be reined in, and only criminal penalties will persuade voters and election officials to take a prohibition seriously.) To ease any burden that these restrictions may impose, states should be allowed to set up pre-election day polling stations, as Florida plans to do in future elections. Also needed are stringent standards to make sure that legitimate absentees, such as soldiers serving abroad, receive ballots in time to return them. Hundreds of Washington servicemen apparently lost their franchise this year because of state tardiness.
Every voter must present photographic identification at the polling place. Every state issues photo ID’s, so this requirement is no hardship.
Voters must register at least 30 days before the election, and states must verify that new registrants are eligible voters who are not registered anywhere else. Congress should also appropriate money – even if it means cutting a farm subsidy here or federally funded museum there – to pay for this process. We will need to figure out what to do about people who move within 30 days of an election, who of course should not be disenfranchised, but that is a detail.
Hand recounts, which are prone to unintentional or deliberate human error, should be permitted only under extraordinary circumstances.
These measures would not be a sure prophylactic against fraud. There are, for example, lots of fake ID’s in circulation. But they would make fraud more difficult. If we’re going to be cheated, at least let it be by professionals!
Incidentally, Washington has a Senate election in two years, with a Democratic incumbent whose victory had certain Gregoire-like features. Rossi in 2006 sounds good to me.
They just don't steal'm like they used to.
Rossi has young kids, I'm not sure that he'd want to take on the 'commute' required between the two Washingtons at this time.
After 20 years of Democrat dominance, the WA GOP doesn't have a very deep bench. In addition, until proven otherwise, an eastern or southwestern Washington (GOP strongholds) candidate can't win a statewide election due to the 6-3 population (and worse media visibility) imbalance. That may not matter against Cantwell in 2006 however, since the undertow from this election may be enough to do her in.
Posted by: TImF | Wednesday, January 05, 2005 at 05:59 PM