[EL] about the new Presidential Commission on Election Administration

[Josh Douglas]

As a follow-up to Michael's point, 49 of the 50 state constitutions have an
explicit provision granting the right to vote (Arizona's is not an explicit
grant but instead couches its right-to-vote provision in be negative). 25
state constitutions say that elections shall be "free and open" or "free
and equal."  Most of these provisions have been there since the original
state constitutions, some of which obviously precede the federal
constitution. In researching this topic I've found a few debates from the
constitutional conventions about these clauses but no commissions.

My draft on this topic, "The Right to Vote Under State Constitutions" is
not quite ready for widespread distribution but I would be happy to send it
directly to anyone who would like to read an early version.

Josh

On Thursday, February 14, 2013, Michael P McDonald wrote:

> I too am more optimistic than some, but maybe I am inherently so. I am
> puzzled by those who complain that the commission can only make
> recommendations. There is little that the president can do with respect to
> elections by executive order (among the few is updating the Current
> Population Survey voting and registration data collection), so I confused
> why people are do down on the commission.
>
> To answer Paul's question -- you have no further to look than state
> constitutions. I would hazard a guess that nearly all of them have election
> related revisions that were brought about by constitutional convention.
> Often, those conventions were preceded by commissions that recommend
> changes. We haven't had much experience with these conventions since the
> 1960s reapportionment revolution forced states to revise their
> redistricting processes. Whether you think the current state constitutions
> are good or bad is another issue...
>
> ============
> Dr. Michael P. McDonald
> Associate Professor, George Mason University
> Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
>
>                              Mailing address:
> (o) 703-993-4191             George Mason University
> (f) 703-993-1399             Dept. of Public and International Affairs
> mmcdon at gmu.edu <javascript:;>               4400 University Drive - 3F4
> http://elections.gmu.edu     Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Paul Gronke <paul.gronke at GMAIL.COM>
> Date: Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:41 pm
> Subject: Re: [EL] about the new Presidential Commission on Election
> Administration
>
> > Larry,
> >
> > I may be naive but I am optimistic.  I have read closely the
> > comments by Rick, by the League of Women's Voters, but I learn
> > more toward Michael Waldmann's statement from Brennan: guardedly
> > optimistic.
> > Rather than being frightened, then, I'd rather be forward looking.
> > It's not my impression that Ginsberg or Bauer are dummies.  They
> > are hard headed lawyers who were deeply integrated into highly
> > competitive campaigns.  I recognize that, for some, that makes
> > them precisely the wrong people to head such a commission.  I
> > think it may make them the right people because they will be less
> > likely to be swayed by millions of disparate ideas.  I hope
> > they'll cut through the B.S.
> >
> > It's also the case that, at least in the past, both Ben and Bob
> > have been willing to listen to voices outside of the immediate
> > community of election administrators.  I've seen them productively
> > interact at meetings of election lawyers and Pew sponsored
> > gatherings.  Scholars, NGOs, and advocacy groups can lend an
> > important comparative context to the often idiosyncratic views of
> > LEOs.
> > Before we indict them, let's see who they appoint as staff.  Let's
> > see what their answers are to Doug's questions about what
> > questions they'll ask and who they'll ask.
> >
> > I thought, as a last comment, that some of the improvements
> > incorporated into HAVA stemmed directly out of the first
> > Commission's work.  While there may be fewer examples at the
> > Federal level, I'm less certain that "no good has ever come out of
> > a commission created to clean up politics, campaigns, or election
> > administration."  The scholar in me asks: do we have any evidence
> > on this point?  Are there any commissions at the state level that
> > have helped to create new campaign reporting systems, non-partisan
> > redistricting commissions, or otherwise helped to improve the
> > political process?  If anyone would know, it's the readers of this
> > list.
> > ---
> > Paul Gronke     Ph: 503-517-7393
> > Reed College and Early Voting
> > Information Center
> >
> > http://earlyvoting.net
> >
> > On Feb 14, 2013, at 9:00 AM, "Larry Levine"
> > <larrylevine at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > > 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:



-- 
Joshua A. Douglas
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Kentucky College of Law
620 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40506
(859) 257-4935
joshuadouglas at uky.edu
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