NYT editorial: Now the Democrats can get election reform - don't let this moment slip away!

[johan helge]

NYT editorial (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/opinion/18wed1.html?_r=1&ref=opinion):


In last year’s presidential election, as many as three million registered voters were not allowed to cast ballots and millions more chose not to because of extremely long lines and other frustrating obstacles. Ever since the 2000 election in Florida, the serious flaws in the voting system have been abundantly clear. More than eight years later, Congress must finally deliver on its promise of electoral reform.

At a hearing last week, the Senate Rules Committee released a report sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the sorry state of voting. It said that administrative barriers, such as error-filled voting lists or wrongful purges of voter rolls prevented as many as three million registered voters from casting ballots. Another two million to four million registered voters were discouraged from even trying to vote because of difficulty obtaining an absentee ballot, voter ID issues and other problems.

The bad news didn’t end there. According to the report, another nine million eligible voters tried to register but failed to because of a variety of hurdles, including missed deadlines or changes in residence.

(...)


President Obama championed election reform when he was in the Senate, and Democrats, who have been far more committed to the cause than Republicans, now have healthy margins in both houses of Congress. Supporters of a more fair, efficient and inclusive system of voting should not let this moment slip away. The millions of registered voters who are being turned away deserve a lot better.

[bleever]

1. Rec #1.

:patriot:

[Captain Hilts]

2. Yes!

ER: Dems, don't fuck it up.

[Patsy Stone]

3. And while they're at it...

Kill the machines!

[Thrill]

4. I thought Obama was already doing more than he should?

Yet all I keep hearing is people telling him he needs to do this or that. Change Cuba Policy, Election Reform, Pick a NASA director, I thought you were committed to Darfur, You said you were going to do immigration reform, etc....

[johan helge]

5. Relax

- of course people keep telling him that he needs to do this or that! I'm sure Obama welcomes this pressure. The more pressure he gets in the right direction, the easier it's for him to move in the right direction.

[santamargarita]

6. I hope they don't wait till next year.

:argh:

[juno jones]

7. This needs to be seen,

To the greatest with ya!

[Kablooie]

8. All they have to do is install a Democrat as the president of Diebold and we'll win everything.