You would think that everyone in a democracy, whatever their various political perspectives, would agree that free, unfettered access to the ballot box is a fundamental right, and that we can all unite on that. Incredibly lots of political operatives and machine politicians spend huge amounts of time and money suppressing the vote—making registration tough or impossible, disenfranchising citizens with a criminal record, sending around false information about polling places, and more. This is why the electorate has always looked remarkably different from the citizenry, why presidential elections in particular are decided by a minority, and it’s why the voting booth has been a site of struggle for over 200 years.
A robust and participatory democracy would mean that every citizen could find a good reason to vote and would be assured that exercising the vote, a fundamental human and civil right, is an open and easy process which is visible and accessible. Every vote would count and every citizen could vote. Access to the ballot has been a long and hard-fought process, but full enfranchisement and unimpaired access is still far from a reality.
Full enfranchisement includes allowing former and current inmates to cast their ballots in local, state, and federal elections. Other countries do this. Incarcerated persons are still citizens; half a million incarcerated people are released each year, and they have a stake in the political process. Easy same day registration means that even demanding work schedules and family responsibilities will not impede access to the ballot. Campaign finance reform and public funding of political campaigns would allow someone who is not a millionaire to run for public office, and would blunt the influence of rich benefactors. The Electoral College is a living legacy of slavery and must be overturned in favor of a National Popular Vote. And instant run-off voting, in which voters rank their choices and it takes a majority rather than a plurality to win, can begin to break the strangle-hold of big party machines.
These changes would be baby steps toward making every vote count.
Bill Ayers 
billayers:
I see nothing wrong with welfare recipients temporarily forfeiting their voting rights in turn for aid. I paraphrase some dead white guy who said a democracy ceases to exist when its citizens figure out they can vote themselves money from the treasury.
As for felons’ voting rights; I never knew they kept them after conviction.
Really? So do you see anything wrong with charging money to vote? Or, do you think the Constitution should limit citizenship rights based on wealth or position? There is a long and sad history of this, and years of struggle to win basic rights for all.
You should be able to register to vote by checking a box on your tax return. Then let’s move Election Day to the weekend and we will say a more enfranchised democratic process.
Groups like acorn who register voters are heroic and should be praised, instead of scapegoated because a few workers wanted to cheat and earn a few extra bucks. Let me make this clear, there is no shady undercover group stealing this election. If McCain loses it will be because Americans would rather have Obama as president.
Bottom line, in this country you you pay to play.
If you pay, you get to play.
You pay a tax; income, state, city, county, sales; you get to vote,
Corporations, churches, the GOP faithful, no pay taxes, NO PLAY.
No Like, LEAVE!
Linking tax returns to voter registration is a bad idea on many levels — starting with the fact that many people are not required to file tax returns, like my elderly parents who have no income and thus file no return. So now we’re disenfranchising the elderly along with the poor…
No one has yet to mention the fact that Senator Ted Stevens will not be able to vote for himself in his upcoming re-election campaign because he is now a convicted felon…perhaps no one is unhappy about it. I am proud to be a citizen of Maine, one of only two states in the union that allow current convicts to vote in prison. Our neighboring state of Vermont is the only other state to honor prisoners voting rights, ONLY denying the vote to people convicted of election fraud…if voter suppression efforts continue, perhaps the rest of the country can follow Vermont’s lead.
Bill, keep on keeping on.
This whole website is a total disgrace. I think Ayers need to be expelled out of this country for being the terrorist that he is. Ayers is a despicable if we have to call them even human. Real white trash of society which is educating our youth with their trash.
All you idiots who interact with these criminals really amaze me.
Hey AP,
Vermont is a JOKE!!! The state is occupied by a bunch of left-wing knuckleheads.
Hi Bill:
As you know, there is a ton of great research being done by nonprofits on this very topic. Although the ugly issue of disenfranchisement seems to rear its head only every four years, organizations nationwide tare tackling these issues year round. It isn’t just voter suppression and felony disenfranchisement that pose real challenges to our democracy, but also issues like whether disabled voters can cast their votes in privacy and whether provisional ballots are even being counted!
If you – and your commenters – have a chance, i welcome you to check out the collection of research on this topic at http://www.issuelab.org/closeup/oct_2008. There is some interesting work here that might answer some of the facts being debated in this thread.
All the best,
Gabi
IssueLab
http://www.issuelab.org
I just discovered this blog. I’m surprised it ever occurred to me to ever check it out in the first place, considering recent events. I’ll be back.
I like this post, pure and simple. I would add that at the very least, assuming the college can’t be abolished, the constitution be amended to force the electors to list the vice-president separately on the ballot.
Mr Ayers, what you propose would require a Constitutional amendment (eliminating the electoral college) that would need to be ratified 38 states, many of which would be giving up what small amount of power and influence over the Presidential election they have now. Good luck with that. The Presidential election would become even more urban centric.
We forget that the founders chose NOT to make the US a democracy for a reason.