Election Reform

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Politics This Week with John DePetro: In Advance of the Primary

By Justin Katz | September 13, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz check in on Rhode Island politics in advance of the primary election.

Workers clear 9/5/22 flood waters

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Clearing the State’s Drains

By Justin Katz | September 7, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the many ways government is failing in Rhode Island and beyond.

A crumbling sandcastle

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Shifting Sands Under RI Elections

By Justin Katz | July 18, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz marvel at the dangers and shortsightedness in the runup to RI’s 2022 elections.

The End on a white brick wall

Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s End Approaches?

By Justin Katz | June 13, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the discouraging news in RI and the solution.

A water drop and ripples

Hey, have you heard about that election fraud in Wisconsin?

By Justin Katz | March 4, 2022 |

Strange how little I’ve been seeing about stories like this in my rounds of news collection. You’d think it’d be of broad interest. Rampant fraud and abuse occurred statewide at Wisconsin’s nursing homes and other residential care facilities,” according to the Office of Special Counsel’s second interim report filed on March 1 with the Wisconsin…

Mail ballot envelope

If there was insignificant fraud, election audits would clear the air, wouldn’t they?

By Justin Katz | June 9, 2021 |

Curiously, for all the national news that makes its way into Rhode Island–based media, stories like this, from Paul Sperry of RealClearInvestigations, don’t seem to get much airing: When Fulton County, Ga., poll manager Suzi Voyles sorted through a large stack of mail-in ballots last November, she noticed an alarmingly odd pattern of uniformity in the markings…

"I Voted" sticker in a pile of leaves

The need for vote-fraud evidence is one-sided.

By Justin Katz | April 23, 2021 |

That thought occurred to me while reading Brian Trusdell’s summary of a Rasmussen poll for Newsmax: Preventing cheating in elections is more important than expanding ways to vote, according to a majority of likely voters, who by a large margin also believe voter identification laws are not discriminatory, according to a Rasmussen poll. Moreover, most Americans…

Ken Block: Data shows Master Lever Likely Helped Speaker Fox Avoid Defeat Last November

By Monique Chartier | April 10, 2013 |

This afternoon, Ken Block released the following interesting analysis of the 2012 election results for District 4. Reform advocate urges Fox and Senate President Paiva-Weed to respect the voice of Rhode Islanders and let bills eliminating Master Lever come to vote (PROVIDENCE, RI 4/10/13) Businessman Ken Block, who has been a leading advocate for the…

Journal on Master Lever and Senate Hearing

By Patrick Laverty | April 1, 2013 |

Yesterday, the Providence Journal also came out against the single party voting option, better known around here as the “master lever.” In the editorial, the Journal cites itself from another editorial written in 1948, describing the origins of the master lever. We note that the lever law passed under very dubious circumstances, after an all-night…

Meg Rogers: Abolishing the Master Lever Will Promote, Not Hinder, Democracy

By Engaged Citizen | March 21, 2013 |

We, as a society, need to give deference to traditions upon which good governance is built, but, like corsets, manual typewriters, and LP records, the Rhode Island “Master Lever’s” time has passed. It is time to allow it to retire with dignity into the memories of our grandparents and public affairs’ historians. Contrary to what…