Democratizing Elections

US SOCIETY SPRING ‘09

OutlineVoter

Disenfranchisement

Voter Suppression

Voter–Owned Elections

Instant Runoff Voting

Planting the Standardof Democracy

Philip Green, KarenRose Anderson, Tom Stephens

Voter Disenfranchisement

Outline

•Voter Fraud Protection

•Mail In Ballots

•Felon Disenfranchisement

Voter Fraud Protection**Required Photo ID**

Goal: prevention of individual cases of fraud

Problem: Not all citizens or registered voters have valid photo ID (largely affects minorities and women)

Mail In Ballots**Not available in many U.S. states**

Goal: Avoids possible voter fraud

Problem: Many people unable to get to polls due to disability, distance, busy schedules etc; therefore lower voter turn out.

Historic significance of voting rights in the U.S.

Upon founding, only white land owning men had the right to vote

1868 - 14th Amendment grants African Americans the legal right to vote

1920 - 16th Amendment grants women the right to vote

Historic Significance of Voting rights in the U.S.

1964 - Civil Rights Act bans the suppression African Americans voters

1971 - Congress lowers voting age to 18

Today - Over 5 million people in the US remain banned from exercising their right to vote

Felon DisenfranchisementVoting restrictions placed on citizens

convicted of a felony

48 States prohibit inmates from voting while incarcerated for a felony

30 States exclude felons on parole/probation from voting

Kentucky & Virginia deny the right to vote to ex-felons permanently

Who is Affected?5.3 Million Americans (1 in every 41

adults) have currently or permanently lost the right to vote as result of felony conviction

2.1 Million are ex-offenders that have completed their sentences

Election Outcomes“Although the outcome of the extraordinarily

close 2000 presidential election could have been altered by a large number of factors, it would almost certainly have been reversed had voting rights been extended to any category of disenfranchised felons…

Had disenfranchised felons been permitted to vote, we estimate that Gore’s [national] margin of victory in the popular vote would have surpassed one million votes … Regardless of popular vote, however, one state –Florida– held the balance of power. If disenfranchised felons in Florida had been permitted to vote, Democrat Al Gore would certainly have carried the state and the election.”

Minorities

• Disproportionate number of minority adults disenfranchised due to conviction of a felony

African Americans:

• Make up 38% of disenfranchised adults but 13.4% of U.S. population

• 13% of African Americans are disenfranchised; (7 times the national average)

Latino Americans:

• Make up 16% of disenfranchised adults but 13% of U.S. Population

Felon Re-EnfranchisementPromotes rehabilitation & civic

integration for those convicted of felonies

Gives a voice to those disproportionately disadvantaged by felony convictions (namely minorities & low income communities)

Efforts Toward Re-EnfranchisementEducating ex-felons about voting

rights & process for regaining right to vote

Grassroots re-enfranchisement projects:

--www.projectvote.org

--www.sentencingproject.org

Voter Voter SuppressionSuppression Voter Voter SuppressionSuppression Katlin Pointer &Ronnie Balog-Ressler

Outline• Distribution of Election Resources

• Barriers to Third Party Registration

• Challenging Voters at the Polls

• Voter Intimidation

• Purging Voters

• Election Day Registration

Voter Suppression

Distribution of Election ResourcesProblems at voting polls in minority and

urban precincts Discourages voters due to not enough voting

machines

Poorly Trained and disorganized poll workers

Voter suppression video

Voter Suppression

Third Party Registration Restrictions

Preserving political successes

Regulation of third party activities

Concerns of voter fraud

Voter Suppression

Challenging voters at the pollsIntimidation

Police presence at polling places

Voters improperly asked for photo ID and/or proof of citizenship

Exclusion of 20 million Americans who lack photo identification

Voter Suppression

Voter intimidation

Deceptive flyers

Misleading and/or harassing phone calls

Forced to declare aloud their party affiliation

Voter SuppressionVoter cagingPurging or challenge

voters’ registration Undeliverable mail

compiled into "challenge lists" of unverifiable addresses and can be used to challenge voters' eligibility

Voter Suppression

State voter challenge lawsChallenge the right of other citizens

to vote

Post-Reconstructive Era

Employed restrictive residency requirements, periodic registration, poll taxes, and literacy or understanding requirements.

Voter Suppression

Election Day RegistrationSupporters

Increased voter turnout Decreased Voter’s confusion Human Nature of Procrastination

Opponents Time/financial costIncrease in Fraud

Mary Heil & Virginia Rumfelt

Outline

Old ways of doing things

New election system

How VOE works

Oregon

Is it still a broken system?

The conundrumhttp://www.voterownedhawaii.org/

roadvideo.php

In theory

Candidates that demonstrate broad community support may choose to receive all the funding they will need to finance a campaign.

People from increasingly historically underrepresented would be able to run and, therefore, a more diverse population is represented.

How does V-OE work?

Along with a handful of other US States, Portland is the first US city to attempt the VOE model

Online voting

Oregon to join interstate compact to modify the Electoral College

Success debatableUntil now, Money Has Limited Democracy:

Roughly 90% of elections in PDX had been won by the candidate with the most bucks and access to the media.

A surge of empowerment felt in voters

Controversy Obama’s refusal of Public Funds during the 2008 presidential election

“Broken System”Record breaking internet fundraising

Instant Runoff VotingMichael SaxtonCassidy JorgensenDennis Dunn

What is IRV?Alternative voting process to the

electoral system

Based on a ranking system of preferred candidates

Based on winning the majority of votes; not plurality (more than anyone else)

How IRV Works

Muppet Slides

http://www.instantrunoff.com/how/muppets/

IRV ObjectionsMultiple choices mean multiple votes

The other votes are only counted if you chose the losing candidate

Ranking can hurt candidates

IRV Objections cont.

Creates false majorities if there isn’t a clear number one choice

Costs the taxpayer more money

IRV Benefits

Elects candidate with a true majority

Increases voter turnout

IRV Benefits cont.

Eliminates primaries and saves money

Candidates use a less negative campaign strategy to attract voters

IRV Benefits cont.

Lesser known candidates can attract more votes

IRV only counts one vote at a time

Minimizes wasted votes