New Democrat Update - September 2002
MODERNIZING COLORADO’S ELECTION PROCESS
Colorado’s election process should reflect the values of representative government itself - maximum participation, integrity, and accessibility. To realize those values in an ever more demanding society, the system must become much more convenient and flexible for voters.
The basic mechanics of the polling place have not changed for more than a century. Voters must show up at a fixed location, within a 12-hour window, on a Tuesday in the middle of a work week and school year (for the general election). That lack of convenience makes it especially tough for the increasing numbers of self-employed breadwinners, two-parent families in which the father and mother both work, and households with single working parents. On Election Day, the best laid plans can easily fall victim to a sick child, working late, long lines or the weather.
Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Bighorn Ballot (affiliated with the Bighorn Center for Public Policy), voters will get a chance this November to approve Amendment 28, a ballot initiative that changes the voting process to meet the electorate where he or she is today. Rather than being required to go physically to the polls, voters will be mailed a ballot that they conveniently fill out and return.
Voting by mail will increase participation, make voting less of a challenge for those with limited mobility, save time for increasingly busy voters and further minimize election fraud. In short, it will deliver better service to voters at less cost to taxpayers.
Greater participation will help renew our politics and return power to citizens by challenging the narrow, special interests that now often dominate many of our elections. In one national poll, fewer than half agreed that government is run for the benefit of all people or that public officials care what average citizens think. Increased voter participation will also help create a more open and competitive system in which the influence of special interest money is sharply reduced. Our politics would be one of higher purpose that builds on Colorado's future and addresses broad concerns, not narrow, special interests.
Despite Colorado’s virtually problem-free experience with voting by mail (almost 75% of voters took this route in the 2001 election), even the smallest of changes in such a sacred institution is bound to generate concerns. Fortunately, each fear can be minimized and often eliminated.
Some critics fear that more election fraud, intimidation and corruption, as well as the end of the secret ballot, will result. In reality, mail ballots are more secure than the polling place because voters must sign the ballot and seal it in a confidential envelope. Each signature will be checked at the election office and must match the voter registration card in order to be counted. Where voting by mail has been implemented, the number of fraud cases has been almost nonexistent. In addition, Amendment 28 doubles penalties for voter fraud.
Ballot secrecy is another non-issue. One comprehensive study revealed that more than 95 percent of voters marked their ballots without even family members seeing it.
Others worry that voting by mail will cheapen the process, resulting in “snap decisions” by voters. However, deciding earlier hardly means less thought is involved. In fact, making a thoughtful, deliberate decision in the quiet of one own’s home, in one’s own time, should yield sounder results.
Opponents charge that it will disrupt campaigns and increase negative advertising. First of all, elections are for voters, not campaigns. Second, since many voters are casting their ballots earlier in the process, campaigns no longer have an incentive to launch unfair and unsubstantiated last-minute negative attacks. Such attacks will be spread out, often resulting in a voter backlash and causing campaigns to pull over-the-top ads.
Maybe the opposition’s best argument is that voting by mail weakens our collective sense of political community. The sense of “high-touch” with one’s neighbors on Election Day will be gone.
In reality, voting by mail does absolutely nothing to diminish the real essence of democracy and community - spirited and respectful debate, walking door to door, voting, and keeping track of elected officials. In fact, it frees voters to spend their time on what really matters - discussing important goals, with an eye toward long-term gain for the greater good and toward defining the proper roles and responsibilities of the individual, community and government.
Modernizing our election process is long overdue. Voting by mail will be an effective instrument for maximizing voter participation and achieving progressive goals in the 21st century. This November, New Democrats and everyone else should say “Yes” to Amendment 28.
A WINNING MESSAGE
As the November election rapidly approaches, the challenges facing Democrats have never been more important. With the political parties in a dead heat, the future direction of the nation’s and Colorado’s governing agendas hangs in the balance.
As always, the attractiveness of our candidates’ messages and ideas to centrist, swing voters will be the deciding factor. The New Democrat Network, an organization that helps elect New Democrats across the country, recently documented what it will take to be successful in the fall. Here are a few of the major points:
“It’s the Economy Stupid (But Don't Forget About Terrorism). The battleground between the two parties is around which can best provide economic opportunity for all Americans. Democrats must contest this ground vigorously with a forward-looking economic plan that puts creating opportunity and giving people the tools to seize them at its center. Yet, we cannot forget that national security is a threshold issue. Voters won't support Democrats to lead the country if they don't trust us to keep their families safe and secure. It cannot be ignored. Both issue areas must be addressed.Prepare, Not Protect. The most effective message that keeps Democratic base voters and - most importantly - attracts swing voters is a message that addresses how Democrats will prepare, not just protect, Americans for the future. We must view the future optimistically as full of promise, not fearfully as something from which families need to be protected.Stand With, Not Against. The most effective way to leverage the advantage that Democrats have as being seen as better able to represent people’s interests is to phrase it in a positive way of whom we stand with, not whom we stand against. A hopeful, positive vision rather than a negative, embattled one works best with Democrats, independents, and swing voters.”Simply put, accomplishing these objectives requires candidates to run on the New Democrat agenda. As Al From, Founder and CEO of the national DLC recently outlined, that means “strengthening national and domestic defense and making America the safest big country on earth; growing the economy and expanding opportunity; pursuing policies that reflect the values most Americans believe in - work, family, responsibility, freedom, faith, tolerance, and inclusion; promoting an ethic of mutual responsibility; and consistently modernizing and reforming government.”
The challenge and roadmap are clear. It’s time to get it done.