Question
What do you like and/or dislike about the way elections are managed in the US?
Answers
Carl (conservative): I have a friend who thinks that the more people who vote, the better. He makes no allowance for knowledge or desire or conscientiousness. In essence, he subscribes to Mencken's quip: Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. I could not disagree more. As poor as our voter turnout has historically been, I would prefer it was even lower if it would mean better informed voters.
Also:
I love the electoral college.
I think voting should be in person and perhaps a national holiday or similar sort of situation.
I think one should have to show some form of identification to vote.
I think voting is a duty and a privilege.
Liz in VA (moderate):
Full disclosure: I am a poll worker in my county, and have been one since 2016. I am speaking as an individual. I know how the process works in my county, and it does. I know there are three checks on the voting totals and internal controls in place to account for all ballots. I like how we look to constantly improve voting processes to make the system easier for voters while retaining internal controls to ensure accuracy.
What I dislike:
(1) lack of national standards on how to register and what is an acceptable voting system. This push to hand count is a result of people not knowing that any manual system has more inherent flaws than a verified automated system with multiple internal controls. Set the standards and every state selects a verified system.
(2) Native-born US Citizens have no idea how the voting process works. We no longer teach civics so they do not understand how their individual vote goes into the overall total.
(3) The lack of a national voter registration database. When the nonpartisan Election Registration Information System (ERIC) was rejected by Republican governors after the 2020 election, we are now in a situation where the most effective check on voters registered and voting in multiple jurisdictions is missing key data, and the Republican governors are spending a FORTUNE to build a new version of an already functioning system.
(4) Restrictive voting registration. Depending on what state I can register at the DMV (motor voter), or I can register at a voter drive (ex League of Women Voters). However, some states have more extensive limitations on who can register voters and what identifications are valid for voter registration. Greater participation = greater democracy.Geoff Wise (centrist):
- Good: Local running of elections, generally by county officials who are committed to conducting fair and accurate elections.
- Good: Election results are tallied and reported quickly and are publicly available, as are voter registration lists.
- Good: The frequency of elections is reasonable, though I could see moving to three-year terms for legislators to space out the cycles more.
- Bad: Single-member districts drive winner-take-all polarization, reducing the number of voices at the policy-making table. Independents have no chance.
- Bad: As election campaigns are privately funded, money has too much influence in politics. More than half of representatives' time is spent on fundraising. Money buys access and influence. Corporations are allowed to contribute to campaigns. Political Action Committees coordinate too much with candidates.Maggie Smith (progressive): I have never understood the primary system. It forces Americans to settle on two candidates that often have the most money and political backing. Ask yourselves, how many times have you gone to the polls and asked which candidate is the better of two evils? The Senate needs another review. States that are less populated (e.g. Wyoming and Alaska) than states with large populations (e.g. New York and California) have equal say in policy and legislation decisions that may impact our entire country. The Electoral college needs to be eliminated as it provides a means to corrupt the entire election process for President. If the majority of the US voted for a particular candidate, they would win.
Dan Mariano (progressive-leaning liberal): I really appreciate how much our elections rely upon civic engagement; that our elections are often run and overseen by our very neighbors. It enables and enforces a sense of trust and community that allows for making our voices heard and is all the more immediate in our day to day lives.
I do believe that our elections operate in a pretty seamless and very, very near perfect way, leaving incredibly little room for fraud. Not to suggest that elections haven’t been highly scrutinized and suspect in the past, but when operated completely by the book our elections are very secure.
What I don’t like about our election management is its lack of more universality amongst states. This is offset by my appreciation for states conducting elections in their own way, in theory. But the range of state by state differences do open the window for lengthy counting, recounting, and differences in process speed which creates vulnerability for political figures to sow doubts and generate their own narratives about election integrity.
This post is part of a Q&A series with voters who have volunteered
to share their perspectives leading up to the November 2024 election.
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