KRESKY and SALIT: Obama 'efficient administration of elections' not sufficient for democracy

Obama Electoral Commission Omission: Our Voting System Needs Real Reform

by Harry Kresky, Jacqueline Salit Sep 2, 2013 4:45 AM EDT 

at The Daily Beast 

We all want voting to be more efficient and less time consuming. But these upgrades won’t change what our electoral system produces—a government paralyzed by partisan gridlock.

Our democracy is in disrepair.  The Supreme Court recently crippled the pre-clearance remedy of the Voting Rights Act.  Efforts are underway in a number of states, north and south, to limit voting by imposing stringent identification standards.  The 40 percent of Americans who are independents are barred from participating in primary elections in most states, unless one of the major parties invites them.  Our rigged system of redistricting is manifestly partisan.  There is unprecedented gridlock in Washington and alarming levels of corruption in State legislatures.

Alex Wong/Getty

This sorry state of affairs has not gone entirely unnoticed.  Recently, President Obama appointed a Presidential Commission on Election Administration, in response to breakdown and conflict in the electoral arena.  Its mandate is to “promote the efficient administration of elections,” an understatement of the problem if there ever was one.... READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Commission on Election Administration to Hear From Independent Pennsylvanians September 4

Independent Voters to Testify at Philadelphia Public Hearings.

By Barbara Patrizzi on 08/23/2013 at IVN

Sign the Letter to President Obama's Commission here

Independent Pennsylvanians,  part of the national IndependentVoting.org network, will be on hand to testify at the upcoming public hearing of President Obama’s Commission on Election Administration. The hearings will  take place in Philadelphia, on  September 4th, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, rooms 102 and 103. The 10-member commission is tasked with presenting recommendations to the president about how to “improve the voting experience."

The Commission has already held public hearings in DC, Florida, and Denver, where representatives of independent voter groups from Virginia, New York and Florida submitted testimony. Independent voters have a lot to say about electoral reform, and are taking advantage of  this opportunity to voice these concerns to the bi-partisan commission, despite the narrow agenda that has been set forth for the hearings. [read more here]

What Would Get More New Yorkers to Vote? Make Elections Nonpartisan

From the New York Times yesterday

What Would Get More New Yorkers to Vote?

read more of the discussion here

  h/t to Nomi Azulay

Make Elections Nonpartisan

Randy M. Mastro is a former deputy mayor of New York City, under Rudolph W. Giuliani, and is now a litigation partner at the law firm of Gibson Dunn.

Updated June 26, 2012, 11:14 PM

New York City can reverse the alarming drop in voter turnout by adopting a nonpartisan election system where
candidates of any or no political stripe run in an open primary and get on the ballot through petitioning. Any candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the vote wins outright, but assuming no candidate reaches that majority threshold, the top two vote-getters in the primary then square off in the general election. This approach would permit more registered voters to participate in a meaningful primary process and attract more good candidates to run for office.
With the exception of the mayoralty, we remain essentially a one-party town, so the Democratic primary is the election, and that primary is closed to registered Democrats only.

Any candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the vote wins. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the top two vote-getters square off in the general election.

Most other cities in this country have changed their local electoral systems. Today, more than 80 percent of American cities have nonpartisan elections for local office. Indeed, major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco and Boston all elect their mayors through some form of nonpartisan election. And the voters have embraced the change. In Los Angeles, for example, voter turnout has risen nearly 20 percent over the last two mayoral election cycles, far surpassing New York City's rates of participation. Indeed, the last time New York City exceeded Los Angeles's voter turnout in a mayoral primary election was in 1989.
The time for change has come. Instead of lagging behind the rest of the nation, New York City needs to do the what it does best -- lead. The benefits are obvious. In our closed primary system, nearly one-third of registered New York City voters are not eligible to vote in the Democratic primary that typically determines the ultimate winner. And the party organization or, to a lesser extent, special interest coalitions that can influence low-turnout Democratic
primaries, dictate the outcome. But with an open primary/"top two" run-off election system, all voters could participate, and more good candidates would be encouraged to run, having a greater likelihood of prevailing in open primaries, than in the current closed system.
It's really a simple proposition: If we want to turn around this alarming trend and, instead, encourage increased voter participation in our local elections and attract more good candidates to run for local office, we need to learn a lesson from the rest of the country: Nonpartisan elections work to accomplish those goals.
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Arizona Indie's Making A Push

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independent Voters Are On the Move. Two-Party System BEWARE -- Tunisia and Egypt Can Happen Here! (By William J. Kelleher, Ph.D., opednews.com) Independents are organizing. That is not easy for them to do. It's not in their nature. But on February 12, 2011, in New York City, the momentum began picking up speed. That is when some 500 independent activists from all around the country converged on the campus of NYU to share notes and experiences, and to piece together some answers to the questions about who is repressing us, and how they are doing it. The event was hosted by Independentvoting.org.

ARIZONA

• Independents now outnumber Democrats in Arizona -Parties, candidates will have to contend with elusive voters more than ever (By Joanna Dodder Nellans, The Daily Courier) The independent numbers have been on an increasing curve ever since the state's voters approved moving to a quasi-open primary in 1998. That allowed independents to choose a party ballot to vote on. Republicans tend to oppose the open primary more than Democrats. Statewide, Republicans have talked about trying to opt out of the open primary through the court system like the Libertarians did.
• Redistricting critical to bring balance to the Legislature (by David Lujan, former House minority leader, ARIZONA REPUBLIC/My Turn) The candidates from whichever party dominates voter registration in these "non-competitive" districts are the ones who win, and often the only way they can win is by playing to the extremes in their party.
• State government mired in tired politics, policies (Arizona Republic) Low-turnout primaries and uncompetitive districts have decimated the political middle at the Legislature. Yet Arizonans clearly want practical solutions, not ideological purity. The ranks of independent voters have grown so rapidly that they now outnumber Democrats and are gaining on Republicans. The solution could be right next door. In June, California voters decided to switch to "open primaries," in which candidates compete regardless of party. The top two vote-getters then go head to head.

NEW YORK

• Tom Golisano: Reform The Electoral College (BY CELESTE KATZ, NY Daily News/Daily Politics) Tom Golisano, a three-time candidate for governor, is now focusing his attention (and money) on reforming the system of awarding electoral votes in presidential elections.
• Destroying the Electoral College System (By Azi Paybarah, WNYC/The Empire) Tom Golisano aims at the electoral college, something people like Hillary Clinton once embraced.
• Tom Golisano to help effort to end Electoral College (Democrat & Chronicle) In an interview with Gannett's Albany bureau on Monday, Golisano said his role in the national push would be to meet with legislative leaders and governors across the country. The measure has already passed six states and is being actively considered in dozens of others.
• Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos are getting weaselly about redistricting (EDITORIAL NY Daily News) And while 138 legislators signed Koch's pledge, the two leading proposals in the Legislature have garnered only 41 and 15 co-sponsors. Clearly, a huge bloc still hates the idea of giving up redistricting power. They like picking their voters, instead of the other way around.

WISCONSIN

• Poll: Voters Oppose Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Union Standoff (By ROBERT SCHLESINGER, US News and World Report) Independent voters think state workers should be able to keep their collective bargaining rights if they agree to the cuts Walker wants, by a margin of 76-19; even Republicans are closely split, with 49 percent thinking the workers should keep their rights and 47 percent agreeing with Walker’s hard line

SOUTH DAKOTA

• Pierre Report: Cross-Over Day Looms In Pierre (BY SEN. JEAN HUNHOFF, EXCERPT Yankton Press & Dakotan - SD) SB175 proposed independent voters in primary election.

Kresky: California's Top Two Primary System, Toward a Stronger Coalition for Political Reform

by Harry Kresky
Counsel to IndependentVoting.org
Posted: December 21, 2010 11:06 AM
Huffington Post

Last week the California Supreme Court refused to issue an injunction blocking the implementation of Proposition 14 in several upcoming special elections. The measure, which won 54% of the vote in a referendum last June, eliminates party primaries in favor of a "top two" system where there is a first round of voting in which all candidates appear on one ballot and all voters participate on equal footing, with the top two vote getters going on to the general election.


Top two was supported by a coalition which included Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, the Chamber of Commerce, the AARP, IndependentVoice.org and California Independent Voter Network (CAIVN). They took on and defeated California's political parties, major and minor.
Opponents of top two knew they could not succeed in a direct legal challenge as the U.S. Supreme Court has already upheld the State of Washington's top two system. Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, 552 U.S. 442 (2008). Instead they identified two peripheral aspects of the new system and tried to parlay that into an argument to take the whole thing down. So far they have been unsuccessful, and while the litigation has not yet been fully concluded, it is unlikely their challenge to top two will prevail.

As in the lead up to the referendum, the third parties have been out front in the effort to stop top two. In the litigation they have questioned the legality of (1) limiting descriptions of party affiliation that can appear on the ballot next to the names of candidates to parties that have achieved official recognition under California laws in effect for decades (Democratic Party , Republican Party, Libertarian Party, Green Party, American Independent Party and Peace & Freedom Party); and (2) eliminating write-in votes in round two. While either of these two complaints could be remedied without overturning the top two, the plaintiffs have asked the Court to ignore the wording of the enabling legislation and existing legal norms to hold that if any aspect of the system is invalid, the entire system must fail.


Allowing write-ins in round two would undermine top two because the explicit purpose of the system is to provide a face off between the top two candidates in the general election, ensuring that the person elected has a majority. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has already held that a state need not allow write-in votes. Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428 (1992) So the argument that top two must fail because it precludes write-ins in round two is frivolous. And there is nothing inherent in top two that would prevent write-in candidates in round one.


The issue pertaining to ballot listing is more interesting and complex. Achieving official ballot status requires registering 103,024 voting age Californians into that party or getting 1,030,233 voters to sign a petition. But there are all sorts of political affiliations that either do not meet those requirements or which do not aspire to be political parties. There are good arguments for and against allowing them to be listed on the ballot. To allow any and all such entities to be listed gives the voters more information about a candidate and the candidate greater latitude to express who he or she is; to limit the listing to officially recognized parties permits a voter to confirm that a particular candidate is indeed registered into the party listed on the ballot and, further, that the afflation listed is more than just six guys who meet for Friday night poker and call themselves the "card party." Independent voters who do not like political parties might favor expanding what a candidate can say about their affiliations on the ballot to more than just a party. But the absence of that option at this time is not a reason to strike down Proposition 14. Actually, it's a reason to implement Proposition 14, which will create an environment more favorable to non-party players. Better to revisit the ballot listing issues further down the road.

With the litigation winding down, and special elections run under top two just around the corner, it is time for the minor parties to reconsider their relationship to this important reform. The new electoral terrain opening up in our country's most populous state creates possibilities for independents and minor party members to work together to achieve a fairer and more inclusive electoral process.


Leaders such as Lt. Governor Maldonando, who was recently presented with an Anti-Corruption Award by the New York City Independence Party, are looking to build new alliances--including with independents--that can achieve progress on key issues such as immigration reform.


In this moment of possibility, it is important to remember what independents and minor party members have in common: a recognition that the major parties have too long placed partisan interests over the national interest; a belief that the existing two party arrangement keeps the policy dialogue within too narrow a framework; and a commitment to leveling the electoral playing field.

Independents sent Barack Obama to Washington to shake the sucker up and the parties ate him for breakfast

As Jackie Salit said last week on her conference call to kick off her organizing for the national conference "Can Independents Reform America?" coming up in NYC over the weekend of February 12, 2011, independents are among the most misunderstood constituencies around. Today's round-up of news about independents below is a glowing example of just that. Independents, Salit says, sent Barack Obama to Washington to "shake the sucker up" and "the parties ate him for breakfast."

While indies are increasingly calling for, voting for -- and winning -- reform of the process, reforms that would help America break out of partisan shackles (i.e. the Top Two Open Primary that won in California in June, Proposition 20-which expanded the California Redistricting Commission's mandate to include Congressional districts-passed by 20 points; Proposition 27, a bi-partisan ploy to dismantle the Commission, was defeated by a similar margin; and in Florida, the voters passed Amendment 5 by a 25 point margin, establishing clear, non-partisan guidelines for the drawing of legislative districts), the pundits search around for some equation they understand. Obama + Palin + Bloomberg = trouble for the Dems - or trouble for the Repubs, depending on your ideological slant...

By the way, Jackie Salit's next national conference call "DOES POWER SHARING IN WASHINGTON MEAN THAT THE PEOPLE WILL HAVE MORE POWER?" will be on Monday, December 6th, 8:30 EDT. For more information contact Nancy Ross or Gwen Mandell at national@cuip.org or phone:  800-288-3201 or 212-609-2800

I ran into City Hall News writer Chris Bragg at the paper's holiday mixer down at the Woolworth Tower Kitchen (a fave City Hall restaurant). He had just interviewed NY State Independence Party chair Frank MacKay (please see his wonderful portrait below) which lead to a conversation about the corruption of partisan politics. MacKay, a wheeler-dealer from way back, has completely isolated himself from the reform movement led by grassroots independents in favor of brokering deals with the Wilson Pakula in New York.

In the meantime, the NYC organizations of the IP keep organizing the grassroots. New York City's first independent Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, was elected with 150,000 votes on the IP line in 2009. In 2010, they recruited 4,200 independents to join local County Committees, and supported the fight for a "top two" open primary system for New York City. Coming up Sunday, December 12th is the 11th Annual Anti-Corruption Awards, this year going to Dr. Omar H. Ali and Bradley Tusk.

Omar H. Ali is a professor at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, a respected author who has written extensively about shifting political alliances in the black community, and a frequent commentator on CNN, PBS and the History Channel. He is one of the country's foremost advocates for open primaries and non-partisan elections.

Bradley Tusk is the founder of Tusk Strategies, a political and strategic consulting firm based in New York City. He served as Campaign Manager for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2009 re-election campaign, and is a staunch supporter of structural reforms that would curb the power of the parties and increase the power of voters.

The event will take place at the Tribeca Grill in lower Manhattan.

And now for the news:


LEDE

• The Real MacKay - A glimpse into the Independence Party chairman’s mind, and into his castle (Chris Bragg, The Capitol) MacKay throws four-course meals with Oheka’s owner, Gary Melius. They facilitate meetings between donors, politicians, investors and developers. The lunches also serve as a chance to woo MacKay, who has near-total control over many of the party’s local, and all the party’s statewide, endorsement decisions. Pretty much every major statewide candidate attended this year.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• George Will: Palin’s ‘Non-Presidential’ TV Appearances Will Not Lead to the WH (ABC News/The Note) “The independent voters have made up their minds about her, and it is a negative judgment they’ve made,” ABC’s George Will said on the “This Week” roundtable.
• More Voters Say Obama Doesn't Deserve Second Term in Office, Poll Finds (By Catherine Dodge, Bloomberg) Independents also disapprove, with only 35 percent saying the president should be re-elected.

BLOOMBERG 2012

• Analysis: Bloomberg sounds much like he did in '08 (AP, Wall Street Journal) "It is deja vu all over again," said Doug Muzzio, a public affairs professor at Baruch College. "It's the same script — they think it worked the last time, and they are confident that it's the best way to keep marketing the Bloomberg brand right now."
• Hoping For Political Disaster (by Daniel Larison, The American Conservative)
• Haley Barbour: I Hope Michael Bloomberg 'Won't Even Consider' Running (The Huffington Post, Nick Wing)

CALIFORNIA

• EDITORIAL: A return to the Golden State - OUR VIEW: REDISTRICTING COMMISSION COULD BE FIRST STEP IN LONG JOURNEY BACK (North County Times)
• Contrast between old, new (By Jim Boren, Fresno Bee) That means the extreme factions of both parties won't be the ones deciding the people who will run in the general election. The candidates will be more moderate and that means the Legislature will be much more willing to compromise as it moves to the political center.

NEW YORK

• Bloomberg picks media boss as NYC school chancellor (By Stephen Millies, Workers World) “I think Bloomberg’s decision to appoint Cathleen Black is arrogant, absurd and unacceptable,” declared City Councilperson Charles Barron, who was the Freedom Party’s candidate for governor.

EDUCATION REFORM

• Teachers Unions Not Representative of Teachers’ Changing Views (Gary Beckner, Town Hall) Unfortunately, teachers largely have been pushed aside as education reformers determine how to help America’s students catch up with the rest of the world. Teachers can thank the teacher union leadership for being excluded from the education reform decisions.

LAST WORD

• Review of John Atlas, "Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN" (by: Peter Dreier, t r u t h o u t | Book Review)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter has some interesting observations about independents, open primaries and power in the American electoral system... Must Reading for independent voters!!!

• While waiting at JFK in New York on part of my relaxing 12-hour flight to Ft. Myers Florida last week (more about that later!), I had trouble logging in to the webcast of the American Citizens' Summit hosted by the Transpartisan Alliance, but here's a Green Party press release and a post by Ordinary Person  and by Georgia Independents that gives you a sense of the participation.
  

• Tennessee state legislature entertains partisan registration bill -- would you want these people telling you what party you belong to???
  
• Dan Walters' on the rise of independent voters and the prospect of open primaries in California
  
• South Dakota legislature gives parties rights to closed primaries -- are they horse trading with voters' rights?
  
• Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor and Publisher, has a new book out "Why Obama Won", noting effect of independent voters
  
• Barry Rascover in Maryland nails the problem with the Repubs, doesn't get the trend: Independents voted for Obama, but that doesn't make us Dems...
  

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• California needs a GOP for 2009, not 1977 (By Peter Schrag, Sac Bee) The self-marginalization has been far greater among Republicans, who exclude independent voters from their primaries, who have made no effort to reach out to California's fast-growing minorities, Latinos especially, or for that matter to women.
  
• Political parties must work together (LETTER News Times - CT) Instead of trying to recruit the unaffiliated voter to your party's dogma, it's time to listen to the unaffiliated voter's message.
  

OPEN PRIMARIES/POLITICAL REFORM

• ‘Open primary’ may be headed to 2010 ballot (Capitol Weekly) One view of the partisan paralysis gripping the California Legislature is that it could be eased by embracing open primary elections, in which voters can cast ballots for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.
  
• Give us good governance! (Press Telegram - Long Beach CA) The Legislature, chosen by party fiat in gerrymandered districts, can't decide whether to raise taxes, cut services or tie its shoelaces.... Voters last month decided they'd been gerrymandered enough, and new districts based on criteria other than party affiliation will see the light of day. To that, we'd add that open primaries should be adopted. A vote for the candidate - not the party - would help break up the 120 Club, which is our dysfunctional Legislature. 
  
• Electoral College could be weakened - Two Atlanta lawmakers want measure to let popular vote decide presidential elections. Other states have voted on similar bills. (By James Salzer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Obama’s Ideology and Pragmatism: More Common Law Than We Might Think (By Scott Payne, The Moderate Voice) The very notion of sternly pragmatic and ideological camps in itself smacks of gross over-simplification.
  
• The Pragmatist (by CHRISTOPHER HAYES, The Nation)
  
• State of Disgrace (by David Moberg, The New Republic) Why has Illinois always been so corrupt? In a word: adaptability. The simple answer is that the state's political machines--both Democratic and Republican--have become so adaptable and have so deeply influenced the state and local political culture that reformers, despite periodic victories, just don't have a shot. 
  
• Is "Ideology" Bad When it Comes to Foreign Policy? (Shadi Hamid, Huffington Post) In the realm of foreign policy, "Ideology" is getting a bad name. "Pragmatism" is, apparently, all the rage.
  

NEW YORK POLITICS

• Bronx Boro President Carrion Will Run For Comptroller (Gothamist)
  
• Bronx Beep Carrion Gets a White House Post (Gothamist)
  

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

REFORM WINS
Electoral Reform on the Ballot: Wins for instant runoff voting and more (Huffington Post) A round of electoral reform victories in key ballot measures suggest that Americans have had enough of antiquated electoral laws.

INDEPENDENT EFFECT DOWNBALLOT

• Minnick edges Sali in upset (Idaho Press-Tribune) He said he won because Idahoans are independent voters. “I would like to thank the thousands of Idaho Republicans and independents who chose to look at the race in terms of who could do the best for Idaho,” Minnick said.
• Colorado Democrats ride Obama's coattails - after a fashion - Democrats split on how Obama affected contests (Rocky Mountain News) Udall's statewide margin of victory was wider than Obama's, and a pre-election Rocky Mountain News poll suggested he drew more support from men and independent voters than Obama did.
• Minnesota Senate race heads into automatic recount (Associated Press) An analysis of exit poll data showed Franken wasn't able to win over independent voters at the same rate as fellow Democrat Barack Obama, providing a clue as to why his race ended with such a tight margin.
• NYC mayor, NY governor hail Obama election (Newsday) As Obama and Republican John McCain began to emerge as front-runners earlier this year, Bloomberg ultimately concluded he could not win because they both appealed to independent voters that he would have sought to attract.
• What about Bob? Michele Bachmann owes re-election to third-party unknown (MinnPost) when the IPs endorsed Tinklenberg, Anderson grabbed a golden opportunity. He ran, unopposed, in the primary as the IP representative. He won the IP spot on Tuesday's ballot and, coupled with that comfortable Minnesota name, managed to win thousands of independent votes.
• Evans-Novak Political Report (Human Events) Some exit poll data suggest this was a base election rather than a swing-voter election.

CAMPAIGN

• Obama Wins Florida's Hispanic Vote (Hispanic Business)
• The Obama Realignment - This could be the start of a lasting Democratic majority like that created by FDR. (Wall Street Journal) In fact, President-elect Obama presents an ideological mix of social liberalism, fiscal conservatism and cultural moderation that attracted a 20-point margin Tuesday among self-described "moderates" -- including crucial crossover moderate Republicans from suburban and exurban areas previously considered safely part of the Republican/Reagan conservative base -- as well as a majority of self-described independent voters.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

CAMPAIGN

• Can McCain Remain Competitive? (American Thinker) How McCain-Feingold is holding McCain back
• Democrats’ Vote Drive in Louisiana Stirs Concern (New York Times) Registrars have reported that as many as a third of the applications cannot be entered into the system, and many of the rest require more information. The state Republican Party called the operation “the Dems’ phony registration drive.”
• Obama Surges Ahead (Democratic Underground)

UTAH

• Riven by factions, Idaho GOP picks Semanko as new leader (Seattle Times) As Semanko takes the reins, he'll have to figure out a way to manage libertarian-leaning Ron Paul supporters; social conservatives such as anti-abortion activist Bryan Fischer; and Rod Beck, the chief advocate for shuttering Idaho's GOP primary to Democrats and independents he blames for picking Republican candidates only lukewarm to party ideals.
• Semanko ousts Sullivan at divided GOP convention (Fort Mill Times)
• Idaho GOP reverses course, votes to keep primary open (Local News 8 - Idaho Falls, Pocatello)

REFORM

• The Republican “Voters First” Initiative (Calitics) “The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall consist of 14 members, as follows: five who are registered with the largest political party in California based on registration, five who are registered with the second largest political party in California based on registration, and four who are not registered with either of the two largest political parties in California based on registration.”
• It's time to eliminate the Electoral College (Chicago Post Tribune)
• Cheers, jeers at the state Democratic convention in Spokane (The News Tribune Spokane)
• Bob Barr makes his case at Texas Libertarian convention (Dallas Morning News)
• Time to Fix the Electoral Process, Panelists Say (Legal Times Blog)
• Should the side with the most votes always win? (St. Petersburg Times)