Subject: Re: Is it Possible Kerry Lost Ohio Because of Punch Cards?
From: Rick Hasen
Date: 11/4/2004, 8:34 PM
To: election-law@majordomo.lls.edu
CC: FredWooch@aol.com, lowenstein@law.ucla.edu

Dan once branded me a "Stalinist" at an APSA meeting, so being branded only an "ideologue" by him is something of a letdown.  Of course, I agree with Fred's sentiments (below) completely.

I am interested in considering some national solutions beyond the (good but not yet implemented) provision of HAVA requiring all voting technology to have overvote error correction.  I've said that I favor national, universal voter registration + voter id cards for federal elections conducted by a non-partisan and independent federal agency, which states could choose to use for their state and local elections as well.  But I'm thinking about how much further the federal government should go, such as mandating either certain maximum error rates of voting machinery or actually providing the machinery.  I was very impressed with the Australian election system I studied this summer (winter) which is completely homogenous across the country.  But Dan, stripping his hyperbole, raises some good points about how it might have drawbacks in the U.S.

I'll be writing an academic piece on this soon, and would appreciate hearing from others, on or off list, over the question of how national---if at all-should our elections be.
Rick


FredWooch@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 11/4/2004 5:26:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, lowenstein@law.ucla.edu writes:
simply to satisfy the preference for uniformity of a handful of ideologues
But what do you really think about this issue, Dan?  With all respect to your evident passion on this issue (or, elsewise, to your general crankiness today), that's a bit strong.  One does not have to be an "ideologue" to care enough about the voting rights of individuals in other states to want to argue in favor of some federal solution that might provide them with some minimal guarantee that they can vote without having to wait 4-5 hours in line and with some assurance that their vote will actually get counted -- particularly when the individuals who might be most adversely affected by the inadequate voting equipment and election administration belong to a politically powerless class who have historically been subjected to discrimination by their state and local governments.
 
Fred Woocher

-- 
Rick Hasen
Professor of Law and William M. Rains Fellow
Loyola Law School
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