Every Vote Counts

In my local paper today is an article about reforming elections. A cursory read of it makes it sound like a perfect plan: make voting convenient, accommodating and user-friendly.

The plan, as reported locally, would include the following:

  • Move school and fire district elections to mid-May to coincide with municipal elections
  • Move the presidential primary up to February from June
  • Require electronic voting machines
  • Permit absentee ballots for whatever reason
  • Permit voting a week prior to Election Day
  • Test voting by mail
  • Move voter registration deadline closer to Election Day

These items are in the NJ Assembly and Senate as various bills, including the package known as Count Every Vote. I wholeheartedly support grouping municipal, fire, and school voting into one election. The cost of running these as three separate elections is inefficient. Of course, it would strengthen voter turnout too.

I am against moving the presidential primary. This has been bandied about for numberous years. Several states have moved up their primary recently. If everyone does, then the primary cycle, instead of several months may be reduced to several weeks. Further, someday, a close race will be had. New Jersey can be the player everyone is clamoring for then. Let's face it, the reason New Jersey is not prominent in the presidential process is not because of our June primary. Rather it is because we vote decisively Democrat every time. Moving up the primary is not going to change that. It may even impede candidates from coming here. This is akin to the issue with splitting the electoral vote within a state as Maine and Nebraska do. The effect will actually be to keep candidates away as they will are "guaranteed" a certain portion of the vote without doing any work. The time and money required to sweep the state would be too much in a state like New Jersey, so candidates would be more likely to concentrate in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, all of which are more evenly split.

I favor electronic voting, but frankly, have absolutely no complaints about Cumberland County's antiquated non-electronic toggle-switch voting booths. Whether it should be mandated or not, I am not convicted.

I favor voting by mail and have no problem with Election Week instead of Election Day. I think moving the registration date does not make sense. A month in advance seems adequate to keep election-time shennanigans to a minimum. Too close to the actual election (and if we grant a week of elections, then we are already down to three weeks) would not provide adequate time to investigate accusations of fraud.

"Everything that we can do to give greater access to the polls and increase voter participation is a very good idea," said Assembly Majority Leader Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden.

Who could argue with that? It sounds reasonable, but it is not the entire story.

Also printed today, is the WSJ opinion piece, My Felon Americans. Surprisingly, one finds from reading the WSJ that Count Every Vote is an initiative sponsored by Hillary Clinton (D-NY). That in itself is meaningless, but the Act which Mrs. Clinton is sponsoring calls for more than the items reported in my local paper. Count Every Vote calls for the federal government to supercede the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.

But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

*Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment. The Consitution is clear. If one commits a crime, the state, not the federal government, determines whether or not to permit him to vote. Here in New Jersey we have not yet provided for felons to vote.

There is a presumption, perhaps correct, that felons are likely to be liberal. Given that Democrats are sponsoring the federal legislation Every Vote Counts Act and Democrats in the New Jersey Assembly proposed similar legislation, it is fair to think that is the case. By permitting felons to vote, the similarly, yet not equally, divided nation may swing Democrat. Yes, this feelgood legislation is nothing more than to tilt the balance of power the other way. It is very much like re-districting maps.

So, be wary of Every Vote Counts legislation. Pick what is good for the community and discard the political. We deserve better than this.

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