The Politicization of Free and Fair Elections
Yesterday in Washington, the Holt bill (HR 5036) - which would authorize reimbursement for states and counties that convert to paper ballot voting machines before the November elections or help pay for manual audits after the election - was added to the congressional calendar used for non-controversial measures. And then prompted objected to by the Bush administration and defeated along party lines. Apparently, free and fair elections in this country are controversial:
“…the Administration opposes the bill’s authorization of excessive spending for reimbursement to States for the costs of obtaining paper ballot voting systems and conducting audits or hand counting of election results….”
Excessive spending? Really?!? How much is too much to have verifiable elections in this country? Please add this to my list of bitter-worthy Bush administration manufactured realities. Rep. Holt responsed, “I note that many people who opposed this legislation supported spending almost $330 million in recent years to provide election assistance in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. I would have hoped those who supported efforts to export democracy abroad would be equally committed to strengthening democracy here at home.”
You can hope, Mr. Holt, but remember, these are the same bunch who believe that supporting the troops means preventing wounded ex-soldiers living in VA facilities from registering to vote because “voter registration is a ‘partisan distraction’ that would detract VA staff from their mission of caring for sick ex-soldiers.” Actually, it’s who you vote for that’s partisan. And secret. Allowing those who served their country to register to vote is the most non-partisan, and the very least, we can do.
Luckily, we have at least one presidential candidate who has not only called out the new VA Secretary, General James Peake, on his bizarre anti-participatory democracy, anti-American rationalization but has also demanded, in tandem, a full accounting of “wounded, injured and medically evacuated troops when discussing the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Not sure why, though, we expect them to count the votes of our wounded vets when we can’t even get them to count as one of the terrible costs of war. Blood and treasure, indeed.
“President Bush announced tonight that he believes in democracy and that democracy can exist in Iraq. They can have a strong economy, they can have a good health care plan, and they can have a free and fair voting. Iraq? We can’t even get this in Florida.” — Jay Leno
This post was written by Mary Mancini
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 9:39 am and is filed under Barack Obama, Russ Holt, U.S. House of Representatives, Voting, Voting Irregularities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:55 am
I just can’t believe this? How is this not the headline on CNN, MSNBC and…ehhhh Fox?
Haven’t they learned anything from the mess back in 2000? Isn’t it about time to make this election simple and fair?
If we in the western world want to show the middle east and China that we have the best model of government, then we simply have to do better than this. If we want people to come out and vote.
The US has a terribly low voting % and stuff like this doesn’t help to get people of the couch.
At least there are some positives…….The NFL Draft is coming up(Football owns baseball any day of the week my dear mary;-))
April 17th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Hiya Casper! Some things have been learned since 2000 and there are election integrity groups, and websites, and blogs popping up all over the country to get the word out that we have to be vigilant about keeping a keen eye on our elections. But even a simple thing like making election day a national holiday seems to find some resistance.
Now, you know our NFL is not actual football, right? The ball we use is not round and we get to touch it with our hands.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Yes, i know that the people has learned alot but it seems that the senate and the house aren’t listening as much as they should. I don’t have a solution for the american election but the men and women in charge should make this their first priority.
The fact that there are differences in how you vote across state lines seems to me to be a problem that needs to be solved.
I am currently manipulating my best friends wife to vote the way i want to:P She is an american citizen living here in Denmark and she is going to vote by mail. Those “foreign” votes were quite important during the Bush vs. Gore election so if you manipulate the facts a little bit, this actually could mean that I decide who becomes the next president of the United States.
McCain…..Im still taking bribes!
Hehe I know but I actually follow the NFL more than I do “our” football. I am staying up all night next weekend to watch who my Tampa Bay Buccaneers select. Btw.
:-) 
Could not resist the urge
When are you guys going to break that no-hitter thing? Hasn’t it gone on long enough?
April 18th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Wait…what no hitter thing?
April 20th, 2008 at 6:09 am
Mmmmmmmm
I hope that freddy still likes me because Mary might take my FOL status away after this one….
“No Met pitcher has ever thrown a no-hitter, and the Mets have gone longer than any other major league franchise without pitching a no-hitter — more than seven thousand games. Ironically, a number of pitchers — Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Mike Scott, Doc Gooden, Hideo Nomo, Al Leiter, and David Cone, just to name a few — have thrown no-hitters either before joining the Mets or after leaving the team. David Cone pitched a perfect game for crosstown rivals New York Yankees. Three potential no-hitters for Mets pitchers have been broken up by late-game infield hits.”
April 20th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Ha! Not pitching a no-hitter in 7000 games is the least of the Mets’ problem - and my concern. I’d be happy if they don’t choke at the end of the season or in a playoff series ever again…