The Hidden Threat to Democracy in America

Republican attempts to deny voters their vote, so important to their victories in this century, continue unabated by past exposure or present scandal. USA Today has a brief rundown of this year's new wrinkles in voter suppression. The article begins with a succinct statement of what's at stake: "Some of this year's elections could be decided by those who can't vote."

The problems range from official limits on registration efforts and laws that effectively deny the vote to minorities, to chaos in polling places because of disorganization, bleeding of resources, and poorly performing voting machines--all of which showed up in primary elections in September, setting off fresh alarms-- to outright fraud using electronic voting machines, which often enough seem expressly designed for that purpose.

Tests that show how easily some of these systems are to defraud, remotely and without a trace, as well as other machine difficulties have prompted a movement to pass a Let America Vote Act: Emergency Paper Ballot Mandate of 2006, so that a paper trail is mandated everywhere. Absent such a law, those voting in states with dubious machines and other problems are advised to vote by absentee ballot.

This stuff isn't making national headlines, though it is local news where it's happening, and national organizations are getting involved. How serious this all is to outcomes can be judged from the last paragraphs of an article about Senator John Kerry. The article's subject is whether he's going to run for President in 2008, but the last graphs are relevant to this election:

The Wall Street Journal notes the practical side of campaigning in so many states. Kerry "said he learned during his 2004 presidential bid the importance of having allies in state offices, particularly those that oversee elections."Said Kerry: "What's happening on the ground in those states can have a huge impact on the presidential races. It is fundamentally important in the case of the secretary of state offices as to whether votes will be counted and cast."

And there are candidates for secretary of state in some states who are running on this issue: to ensure the integrity of the vote and voting rights. Fortunately for me, one of the best--Debra Bowen--is running in my state of California.

There are elections still very close in the polls that could determine whether Congress remains Republican or not. It's in these elections that voter suppression and vote tampering can make a difference. If Republicans win when every poll shows immense voter discontent with them and their leadership and policies, this country may have to finally face the corruption of this basic system of democracy: voting.