Earlier this month, the Center of the American Experiment released a report, entitled “No Longer a National Model: Fifteen Recommendations Fixing Minnesota Election Law and Practice.”The report, authored by American Experiment Senior Fellow Dr. Kent Kaiser with the input of numerous (but unnamed) contributors, criticizes aspects of the election system in Minnesota and proposes solutions for some of the problems seen in recent days, especially in the lengthy and controversial recount process in the 2008 US Senate race.
The fifteen proposals have already been lauded by the Pioneer Press and Politics in Minnesota. Many of the proposals are no-brainers. For example, it’s unacceptable that “Military absentee ballots were 16 times more likely to be rejected and that most of them were rejected because they were received after Election Day.” Logistical problems and a tight schedule from primary to election day in Minnesota are to blame. Another example: (although the debate often carries a partisan edge) the inability to verify voters at the polls with something as simple as a photo ID requirement is a problem. Allowing voters who vote absentee to “verify” their ballots as valid by running them through a test machine seems like a reasonable idea, although the ability to do that doesn’t seem like it would help people mailing in ballots, especially from afar. Yet another example: checking to make sure that people aren’t voting in multiple states. If somebody applies for a drivers’ license in another state, the license in the other state is automatically cancelled. Why not the voter registration? Many of the technical solutions being proposed are sound and simple and one may ask why haven’t they been proposed before? One suggestion is already on the table. Senator Al Franken has just submitted a bill to Congress requiring states to grant at least 45 days for overseas ballots to be issued and returned.
There are other suggestions that may generate more controversy. Not, as you might imagine given the Center’s conservative bent, with liberals who might find changes to be a handicap to access, but rather to conservatives and libertarians who might well ask, how do these suggestions fit with constitutional principles? We are talking about a basic element in our democratic government, one that defines it, gives it is shape and credibility.
Last night, WCCO featured the Minnesota Free Market Institute and Lord Christopher Monckton’s presentation in their story on the rise of climate skepticism among Americans. The polls at the beginning of the story show a clear shift in attitudes in America, only 57% now believe there is direct evidence for global warming, down from over 70% in April of last year and only 35% believe global warming is a serious threat, as opposed to 44% in 2008.
