Fine Tuning Elections

As each election passes we find things that seem to need some fine tuning. It is said that democracy begins when people show up. How is it that turnout can be so poor when most items on any ballot involves money? Are people that convinced that their vote doesn’t count? Here in Oregon it is so easy to vote, being all of our ballots are mail-in ballots. There are no special trips to a polling precinct, though there are drop off sites for those who do not wish to invest in a postage stamp to practice their right to vote.

One problem with voting by mail is that the public has way too much time to sit on their ballots. In the recent election ballots were being received by the voters on October 19 giving them nineteen days to vote. This is far too much time that spans three full weekends. Many people will mark their ballots when they receive them while there is still three weeks for situations and opinions to change. Another reason it is too much time is that people may misplace their ballots. Also fierce and expensive campaigning gets bumped up during this period making issues a financial popularity contest. Two weekends should be sufficient, and eight days would be even more preferred.

Next, it would be nice to see some limits on campaign spending. The tobacco industry spent an obscene amount of money countering measure 50. The Governor has even stated that big tobacco bought the voters in Oregon. How about a plan where each side of a campaign can spend no more than their opponent? This will put under funded campaigns on a level playing field with special interest groups with deep pockets.

This may be easier said than done in most cases because there are often Political Action Committees that raise fund in support or opposition of several measures on the ballot. Asking for cohesion between like minded camps is a recipe for disaster as well.

Another problem is, let’s say that no one put up any money to promote a measure. This would mean that the opposition could not put up any funds either. It will be difficult to find a solution to campaign financing, and financing is the major obstacle to getting the word out in many instances.

Sometimes even well funded messages don’t have legs to stand on. Take for example Clatsop County Measure 4-123. The Yes side raised $7,268, which was $477 more than the No side with $6,791. The Yes side spent $8,139.93, which was $1,014.76 more than the No side, which spent $7,125.17. Both campaigns are now in debt, Yes by $871.93 and No by $334.17. The side that raised and spent the most in this instance lost this election.

Next, why is it that the primaries in two or three states dictates what two main stream candidates will be in the run for President? There should be one primary day for all fifty states. It is also time to do away with the electoral college.

Finally, it would be good if campaigns and polls were prevented from calling people who have telephone numbers listed on the National Do Not Call List. Campaigning by phone is a telemarketing call no matter how one looks at it. Polls are often campaign calls in disguise. Campaigns have invaded our front doors, our televisions, our radios, our mail boxes, our print media, and pop-up boxes on the Internet. We should have at least one safe harbor where they can’t get to us.