[EL] about the new Presidential Commission on Election Administration

[Larry Levine]

Be frightened. Be very, very frightened. No good has ever come out of a
commission created to clean up politics, campaigns, or election
administration. They are detached from the everyday operations of campaigns,
or in this case election administration. They will hear a million ideas from
a thousand secretaries of state and local registrars of voters. Many will be
just plain stupid. And when it's over they will have no authority to impose
anything on any local or state jurisdiction. They can create rules and
standards for federal elections, but that won't mean any city clerk or
registrar anywhere will want to do what the commission says. Remember, the
hanging chads in Florida were no different than the hanging chads in Fresno
CA 20 years earlier. But no election official anywhere would want to admit
their way isn't the best way. So, they fixed the problem in CA and everyone
else just blundered along. Be hopeful if you wish. There's plenty that needs
to be done. But who's going to tell some local election official how many
voting booths he or she must have per 500 voters, or when early voting must
begin and which days it must be available and how many locations there must
be. Be frightened. Be very, very frightened. 
Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Doug
Hess
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 8:36 AM
To: Election Law
Subject: [EL] about the new Presidential Commission on Election
Administration

Regarding the new Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA
perhaps?), in what capacity does such a body exist? Is it created by
executive order? Is it funded out of a pot of money the White House has for
special projects? Or will Congress authorize funds for it in some manner or
have any role in creating it? I assume it has no authority (other than over
some staffing and budget for research, travel, publication, etc.). Correct?

Just wondering what kind of "animal" these commissions are (or can be).

Douglas R. Hess, PhD
Washington, DC
ph. 202-277-6400
douglasrhess at gmail.com

Starting Aug. 2013:
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Grinnell College
1210 Park Street
Grinnell, IA 50112-1670
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