{"id":2867,"date":"2008-02-13T11:23:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-13T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/election-enigma\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:10:05","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:10:05","slug":"election-enigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/election-enigma\/","title":{"rendered":"Election enigma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Carter Bundy<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Democratic caucus is nothing new. As happened in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections and the 2006 First Congressional District race, we are simply the state that has had the closest election in America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Truth is, the election is so close that, as with our elections in those three years, we\u2019d still be counting long after Election Day no matter how the caucus had been run.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Were there mistakes? Sure. And Brian Col\u00f3<\/span>n has taken full responsibility. It\u2019s been a gracious performance by a public figure in a tough situation.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The caucus was run on the cheap, and you can ask any of us who were approached to contribute to the caucus, that\u2019s not for a lack of fundraising efforts by Col\u00f3<\/span>n. It\u2019s an expensive proposition to do these things well, and New Mexico Democrats as a group simply didn\u2019t step up.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t chip in enough money, and most of us didn\u2019t volunteer enough (Col\u00f3<\/span>n did, though \u2013 his is an unpaid position). Even if we had, given the closeness of the race, there likely would still have been at least a week\u2019s worth of canvassing and provisional-ballot qualifying and counting.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The enigma around this election is that people haven\u2019t realized the delay is more about the closeness of the election than anything else.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Crisatunity<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As with most things, the Simpsons are relevant. In one episode, Lisa says to Homer: \u201cDid you know that the Chinese use the same word for \u201ccrisis\u201d as they do for \u201copportunity?\u201d Homer: \u201cYes \u2013 Crisatunity!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With our latest close election, there\u2019s no better time for New Mexico<\/st1:state> to become America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s leader in voting efficiency, accuracy and turnout. Here\u2019s a six-step plan:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 First, allow Election-Day registration. No, it doesn\u2019t cause voter fraud if it\u2019s done right. Yes, it means having ID. Liberal and conservative states alike have done it without any problems.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Second, adopt computer touch screens with paper printouts that are the only official ballot. It ensures no polling location ever runs out of ballots, because all you need is plain white cardstock.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The voters\u2019 intent is respected, because the ballot is printed out for the voter, who gets to review it before putting it into an opti-scan machine. It eliminates errors from not filling in ovals sufficiently, using a non-No. 2 pencil, filling in the wrong box because of a bad ballot design, overvoting, and chads.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It frees voters to vote in any polling location in their county, in turn greatly reducing the biggest driver of provisional balloting: polling-location confusion. I have no idea where to vote each election, and I do this for a living.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Third, create mega-polling locations and publicize the heck out of them. Using large, well-known locations in or near highly trafficked venues like malls, senior centers, sports venues, movie theaters, schools and civic buildings would ensure that virtually everyone has a chance to vote.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Fourth, return absentee voting to its intended, limited status. A 2000 poll showed that 79 percent of married men said their wife voted the same way they did, but only 50 percent of married women said they voted the way their husband did.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On top of vote-buying, vote-tampering and other potential big problems, democracy loses when we eliminate the secret ballot in households. Beyond that, it\u2019s a complex, administrative nightmare.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Absentee ballots should absolutely be available to our military and to those willing to sign an affidavit that they\u2019ll be out of the county on election weekend (more on that in a moment), but otherwise should be limited.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Fifth, don\u2019t allow privatization of our elections systems. The private companies, all of which are owned by the GOP (or own the GOP), have screwed up everything from voter purges to computer programming all over America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bizarrely, they insist no one can see their codes, even with confidentiality agreements. Spend money to hire dedicated public servants from both parties to perfect the voter file.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Sixth, shorten but broaden early voting. That ends the odd practice of allowing votes to be cast a month or more before the end of an election. Candidates die, drop out and change positions in the last month of a campaign.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I\u2019d propose a four-day election weekend, Saturday through Tuesday, with fewer but larger sites, well-staffed and well-equipped. That would take care of the problems with holding an election on a weekday. It would generate buzz and turnout.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The county clerks would only have to hold a four-day election instead of having the bureaucratic nightmare of widespread, long-term absentee and early voting. By having four full days of voting, the long Tuesday crowds would largely evaporate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It would also enable us to adequately staff large voting sites and create significant economies of scale on everything from rent to staff to machines.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Who better than New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> is the perfect place to try these reforms. We have a good mix of urban and rural counties, we\u2019re diverse and we already have a requirement for paper ballots.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

We have aggressive, innovative leadership in much of our state and local government. We\u2019re big enough that the changes would be meaningful, and small enough to implement them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In the last decade, New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> has been in the national spotlight for our freakishly close elections, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. No one knows more about close elections than New Mexicans. Let\u2019s do something with the opportunity.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME<\/a> in New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>. The opinions in his column are personal and do not necessarily reflect any official AFSCME position. You can learn more about him by clicking here<\/a>. Contact him at carterbundy@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carter Bundy This year\u2019s Democratic caucus is nothing new. As happened in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections and the 2006 First Congressional District race, we are simply the state that has had the closest election in America. Truth is, the election is so close that, as with our elections in those three years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bundy-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}