Election Reform
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…
I’ve begun looking at the statewide election result metrics (found at the RI BoE). The first thing I’ve focused on is the straight party ticket vote, and what I’ve learned is no surprise. Statewide, nearly 27% of all votes for Barack Obama came via the straight party ticket vote. That percentage was just above 14%…
Secretary of State Ralph Mollis appeared on WHJJ’s Helen Glover Show this morning. He attempted to explain why a voter I.D. law that passed a US Supreme Court challenge by six to three cannot be brought to Rhode Island during this legislative session The only logistic barrier to this law is the absence of a…
It appears that Secretary of State Ralph Mollis left the two most important reforms to Rhode Island’s electoral process out of his “Voter First” Legislative Package. The Secretary of State does not address at all his exclusion of a voter identification requirement from the package. As for the straight party lever, Secretary Mollis had this…
The New York Times is predicting gloom, doom and lawsuits as far as the eye can see. But anyone who values honest elections is breaking out the champagne to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling yesterday which upheld Indiana’s voter i.d. law, a law which is hopefully coming soon to a polling place near…
[Note: the Devil’s Advocate signed in for this post to write the concluding paragraph.] From today’s Woonsocket Call: A move by the General Assembly to grant a waiver of the traditional waiting period for disaffiliating from a political party could put more voters at the polls for Tuesday’s Democratic Primary for the late Roger R.…