Issue Position: Voting and Elections

Issue Position

Voting and elections are the hallmark of our great democracy. To ensure that the government works in the best interest of its citizens, every American of legal age should vote in every election that they can. However, many are prevented from exercising their fundamental constitutional right for a variety of reasons.

As Americans are working longer hours and are commuting longer distances, many are finding it more and more difficult to be at the polls during election days. In an effort to boost voter turnout in federal elections and to prevent states from invading citizens' privacy to verify excuses for absentee ballots, I co-sponsored the Universal Right to Vote by Mail Act in the 110th Congress. This act removes barriers that some states place on citizens in order to qualify for an absentee ballot, denying many citizens the right the vote for bureaucratic reasons. While states still reserve the right to maintain submission deadlines for timely vote aggregation, this act will provide every citizen the right to request an absentee ballot so they may vote in the comfort of their home. States will check each absentee ballot against voter signature lists to ensure that election security is maintained and voter fraud is not committed.

In the past, voting districts have been manipulated to suit the whims of partisan interests at the expense of fair elections and American trust in government. Our citizens deserve better, districts that are made without an eye to likely winners or political interests. I co-sponsored the Redistricting Reform Act of 2007 last session, which prevents states from redistricting more than once between each national census unless ordered to do so by a federal court. It also directs state legislatures to form bipartisan commissions to draw the district lines and makes the final plan subject to state legislative approval. The commission members from each party will be chosen by legislators from the opposite party to ensure that the commission has a low degree of political motivations.

In addition to fair redistricting, I also want to make sure that every federal election has a verifiable, durable paper trail. Consequently, I have co-sponsored the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007, which standardizes election recording systems and information inside polling places. It further invests in non-networked electronic voting systems that are backed by paper records and requires randomized audits of election results within each state.

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