Bite the Ballot

At the conclusion of the 2000 presidential election, Americans received an unpleasant reminder that the ghosts of our national past still haunt us. That November, as the nation’s voting scandals were exposed, we squirmed under what we learned about African-Americans and the vote. It’s not so easy to remember, because the mainstream media has moved on. But those who do not recall the past are condemned to repeat it.

An untold number of votes were never counted in that election. An unknown number more could never be cast as ex-felons were purged from voter rolls, police blockades kept African-Americans from voting and Departments of Motor Vehicles mysteriously lost and mishandled voter records and applications. Polling places moved without notifying anybody. Poll books inexplicably disappeared.

Allegedly, voters were turned away from polls in many states because of their race, told they couldn’t vote at a polling place because they had NAACP stickers on their cars, ordered to get to the back of the line, and even told to get behind white voters. In Florida alone, ballots cast by blacks were rejected at a rate almost eight times higher than those cast by whites. And similar allegations to every one of the above occurred in 22 states.

Now the 2002 election is coming. Some of the primaries have already occurred. And it’s imperative to try to understand one question. Will we ever have justice in voting in America? The signs to date are mixed to say the least, but some beacons of hope are visible.

Most reports of voting irregularities have focused on the South. This region of the country undoubtedly had the most numerous and shameful incidents of vote irregularities. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights eventually concluded, after long investigation, that the civil rights of African-Americans had been violated in Florida during the process of the 2000 election. Largely as a result, the U.S. Department of Justice at last filed a lawsuit against counties and cities in Florida, Missouri and Tennessee.

Tennessee in particular is scraping the bottom of the barrel, the worst of the worst for voters. Being one of the three states sued by the DOJ is only the beginning. It is also one of six states given a solid "F" from the NAACP in its election reform report. The state budget disaster has kept any money from being spent on replacing ancient voting machines, training poll workers or educating voters. Even the staunchly conservative Nashville newspaper, the Tennesseean, admits that "very little has changed in Tennessee’s election process since the 2000 election brought calls for changes here and nationwide."

Yet before the rest of the country starts to pat itself on the back, we must look at the big picture: Few states are doing all that much better as we gear up for the 2002 elections. Many states are facing horrible budget deficits this year, and have been waiting in vain for federal money to support voting improvements.

A few good programs have been enacted. For example, the governor of Alaska has provided voters with an 800 number to call to locate their polling place. California now runs a program in which absentee voters are contacted in case of a problem with their ballot. Georgia passed the most comprehensive election reform legislation in America. Maryland provided for voters remaining registered even after a move. These provisions, though, are only a drop in the bucket.

Only five governors signed any kind of noticeable election reform legislation. No state has made the replacement of the oldest type of voting machine a priority. No state audited its felon purge list to make sure it was actually correct. Most states still hold that training poll workers is a county or local responsibility, making it impossible to know if an election is being administered the same way throughout a state.