The mechanics of Unites States Elections were scrutinized afterthe mortifying debacle in the 2000 Presidential Election. Havingdiscovered the possibility of lost overseas ballots, incredulousdeadlines, deficient purge lists, suppression of minority votes,dubious voting equipment and approximately 40 days of moot judicialhearings and rulings should have been a wake-up call to Americanvoters. Here are more insidious facts that warrant revisions ofAmerican Electioneering:
The approximate amount of money George Bush and John Kerry havespent on the 2004 Campaign is $547.7 million. This sum far exceedsthe amount spent in the 2000 Presidential Election ($528.9million). What justifies such expense when millions are withouthealthcare, jobs or even a roof to sleep under?
The ceding of Florida to Bush in 2000 meant that Florida'sElectoral College votes were placed in the "Red" column; Bush wasdeclared victor. Yet, Gore prevailed in the national vote byapproximately 537,895 votes, with a 2,239,377 net advantage in theseven largest states. Equally, "the winner-take-all ElectoralCollege means that ... a combined 8.5 million Republicans in NewYork and California ... have no political representation."
In May 2004, Governor Jeb Bush (Florida -- R) did not heedelection officials' suggestions that voter felon purge lists wereinaccurate. Only until a judicial injunction ordered the release ofthe names was it confirmed that approximately 2,500 people didn'tbelong on the list ("most were Democrats, and many were Black").Recall that Bush won Florida in 2000 by only 537 votes.
In the 2002 Election, an incongruous 98.2% of incumbentsretained their seats in House of Representatives. Statelegislatures have empowered themselves to redraw congressionaldistricts based upon readily available demographic data. "Theresult is gerrymandering on a grotesque scale, with incumbentsstitching up safe seats by drawing absurd districts that look likedoughnuts, sandwiches and Rorschach tests." The Texas StateLegislature redrew district lines this past year to effectually addseveral new Republican seats. Just recently, the US Supreme Courtjustifiably remanded the case back to Texas in light of thisobnoxious wielding of power.
The US is ranked 139th (54.5%) in voter participation among 170democratic countries. In 2000, Florida demonstrated that every votecounts -- at least in Florida. In the 1970s, roughly 40 statescould have been considered "battleground" territory. In the currentelection, it's approximately 6-8: a complete turnabout.
These insidious mishaps utterly alienate voters and threatenDemocratic representation. No perfect voting system exists, butcircumstances can be improved. Regulating campaign money is thefirst priority. A reasonable, fixed amount of money should beallocated to a candidate, as well as designated national airtimefor commercials (as most European countries achieve). An equalfooting is the best footing, seeing that social classes have becomemore disparate and impecunious populations are underrepresented incampaign contributions.
Secondly, independent panels are required to draw uniformdistrict lines that embody our multifarious populace. Thirdly, anational election system employing competent equipment (that printsa paper trail) should be implemented. We also need to be engaged ina collective dialogue on the virtues, limitations, and possiblemodifications of the Electoral College based upon contemporaryevents.
Presidential candidates can spend hundreds of millions ofdollars in machinating, yet can't promote more validelectioneering, nor help empower the individual again in AmericanDemocracy.
Write to Russ at
rjwpsy@yahoo.com
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