SOME HOPE IN VOTING REFORM

Promoted from the blog MyDD

FL proposes 11-day election, no precincts, weekends

by Winger

Great news on the voting reform front. The Miami Herald reports:

Florida's election supervisors, impressed by the success of early voting, proposed dramatic reforms Tuesday that would eliminate Election Day, replace it with an 11-day election season and do away with precincts.

The association of the state's 67 chief elections officials voted in concept at its annual winter meeting in Orlando to informally present the idea to the Legislature and to start rallying support for what its members concede would be a sea change in how Floridians vote.

''I think the voters spoke loud and clear in the general election of 2004 that they want other options than to be limited to 12 hours on a Tuesday to vote,'' said Bill Cowles, Orange County supervisor of elections and president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections. ``We should seize upon the opportunity in 2005 to make the changes so we can try it in 2006.''

In the scheme of things, the long 100-year (25-election) view, getting the system fixed is more important than proving fraud in 2004. I'm willing (and interested) in a short-term tactic over the next month to investigate fraud/suppression, but we mustn't let that lead to missed opportunities to fix the entire system, once and for all. The most important thing about the fraud issue is to ensure that it's absolutely impossible to happen ever again.

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