Election Reform
Chairman Lally and the House Judiciary Committee have voted to hold Bill H 5097 “AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS – VOTER IDENTIFICATION” over “for further study”. The vote to do so was thirteen to one; the one “nay” was Rep Rod Driver. What aspect of this concept might still need to be studied? Let’s see,…
A couple freshman RI legislators–one a Democrat and the other a Republican–have introduced a bill (PDF) to discontinue straight-party ticket voting in RI. From the Projo Politics blog: Freshmen Representatives Brian C. Newberry, a North Smithfield Republican and Democrat Michael J. Marcello, of Scituate, have teamed up to submit legislation that would prohibit straight-party voting:…
There are two bills regarding election procedures, already pending in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, that are worthy of public attention:H5051, sponsored by Representatives Al Gemma (D-Warwick), Patricia Serpa (D-Coventry/Warwick/West Warwick), Joanne Giannini (D-Providence), Peter Kilmartin (D-Pawtucket) and Gregory Schadone (D-North Providence) which, to quote the official description, “would require all voters to provide…
Christian Whiton and Larry Greenfield report: Proposition 11, which passed with the narrowest of margins (50.8 percent), could mark the most serious challenge to the political class by voters since the foiled term limit movement of the 1990s. It strikes at the core pillar of power: incumbency guaranteed through gerrymandered districts. Californians took away from…
As a follow-up to my appearance on Matt Allen tonight, I thought it worthwhile to provide a link to VotersUnite.org, which I mentioned to Matt. As I said, they indicate that there are only 15 states that provide the straight-party option, though there are some caveats. For instance: [1] North Carolina: A straight party vote…
The ProJo’s Ed Achorn used some of my data in his latest column in which he explains why the straight-party vote option in the Rhode Island is a stumbling block towards a two-party state. This scheme…gets pernicious…farther down the ballot, in legislative races with lesser-known candidates. Minus the straight-ticket option, many voters who are ignorant…
Early Voting/Multi-Day Voting – Oh, No And here is where the Secretary of State gets a little carried away. He announced this component October 21 on WPRO’s John DePetro Show (podcast no longer available). Citing thirty one other states who engage in some form of the practice, Part of our 2009 legislation package, we will…
Voter Identification – Yes The Secretary of State’s electoral initiative includes a requirement for all voters to show a picture identification when voting. On the one hand, it is good news, indeed, that this critical measure has been proposed by the Secretary of State. It stops cold not one but two significant election frauds: voting…
Marc’s two thorough analyses of straight party voting last Tuesday is a good cue to break the bad news that the legislative package to be introduced in January by Rhode Island’s Secretary of State – one of the guardians of our electoral process – does not include elimination of the straight party lever. (That does…
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been looking at the election returns* with a specific interest in straight-party ticket voting. What follows is an analysis of how straight-party voting may have affected a few down-ticket contests. The most extreme example I can offer is the race for 4th District Senator (North Providence, Providence) between incumbent Dominick Ruggerio…
