"Connecticut is not trying to set a precedent," added Malloy. "There are six states that allow it -- Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Idaho and New Hampshire. And in each of those states, voter turnout is about 10 to 12 percentage points higher than the national average. If we're going to make government work for all the people, we need to make it easier for people to participate in our democracy -- and that begins at the voting booth." (Malloy press release, 12/22/05)
The General Assembly passed same-day registration in 2003, but the measure was vetoed by Gov. Rowland. Malloy says that the possibility of voter fraud that prompted Rowland to veto the bill have been largely resolved by the state's computerized voter registration database.
Same-day registration is a good idea and will hopefully help boost voter participation, which was a dismal 37% for the latest round of municipal elections. However, we're still treating the symptom, not the disease. I hate to say it, but we're not going to see a major turnaround in voter turnout until something in our culture shifts and people feel the power of the franchise again.
Right now, a significant portion of people don't believe that voting makes any sort of difference whatsoever. Same-day registration may help some of these people who decide, at the last minute, that they'd like to vote after all. But what about the people who never even think of going to the polls? How do we reach them?
I often hear a lot of talk about empowering people and reaching out to nonvoters. These initiatives may be slightly successful, but the bare fact of the matter is that people won't vote unless they think there's a good reason to. If people believe they have something to vote for, then vote they will. Last year, national turnout was around 60%, the highest it's been since 1968.
Malloy is right, we should have same-day registration. This will help those nonvoters who show up at the polls next year. But can he provide the vision and leadership necessary to draw them out in the first place?
46 comments:
I don't hear many kind things about the state's centralized computerized voter reg setup. So I wonder if Rowland wasn't right as every once and awhile he was. The Jimmy Carter / some conservative guy whose name I can't remember did a nice commission report on voting and all that stuff. I'm just not convinced what Malloy wants isn't a popular populist (there's that word again) solution looking for a problem.
I'm more concerned about another deadly crash that happened on Avon Mountain this morning and things like that that effect people rather than just the job seeking politicians and those that like their games. I guess I'm just a bleeding heart liberal anony-mouse that thinks CT government needs to get back to the basics ... if they were ever there.
There is same day voter registration in CT!! Why is this such a big deal? You can register on the day of the election and then you can vote in every election that follows for the rest of your life. Why is this such a problem? So what, you miss the vote on the day you register, big deal but at least you are registered for the next one! If it wasn't a priority beforehand, then perhaps people don't take their responsibility to register very seriously.
"And in each of those states, voter turnout is about 10 to 12 percentage points higher than the national average"so says Malloy's press release but I thought CT's turnout was above the national average too. Voter turnout usually has more to do with demograhics, etc.,etc....and while some politicians think you should turn out even in an uncontested race that makes no sense to someone with it
Actually, we were about 3% below the 60% national average for 2004.
OK, let me try this question. What was the turnout in each of the staes with same day reg before and after it was enacted? In other words, was there a differnce and how many election cycles did it take to achieve and were the types of elections Granny Smiths to Granny smiths?
Here here, Simon Says! If someone REALLY cares that much about their right to vote, they will register in advance of Election Day. It is incredibly easy to register and you are given a lot of time to do so.
No one can convince me that same-day registration doesn't invite voter fraud. We have too many close elections to allow even the slightest bit of fraud into the system. Its all a big sham.
I would go farther than same day registration.I would tax households $50 extra on their property tax per year and give everyone who voted on election day a shiny new $100 bill.
Oh DF84 shut up. What you want is in place for the presidential elections. Why is it anybody for Howard never has any facts? Oh, yeah as Howard shoots from the hip as do his followers. Drink the KoolAid and pick a party.
Cheers to Dan Malloy. I am supporting the other guy, but same-day voter registration is a common sense reform that helps more people to vote.
Call your legislator.
Why is it anyone who disagrees with DF84 is a nasty racist Republican Malloy staffer?
P.S.: A report on "what went wrong" prepared by the losing side in a hotly contested election ... there's an unimpeachable source for you. Almost as fair and balanced as Bill O'Reilly, wouldn't you say, DF84?
DeanFan, i think howard dean himself played a pretty large role in the murder-suicide between dean and gephardt in iowa.
DF84,
Unsurprisingly, you miss the point.
I didn't dismiss the report, I merely pointed out that it is one side's view of the situation - every bit as fair and balanced as Bill O'Reilly. (Labeling it, as you did, a "Congressional Report" is a tad disingenuous, since it hardly represents the view of Congress - it represents the view of congressional Democrats. But then I doubt you see the distinction.)
Nor, despite your ad hominem attack, have I indicated anywhere that I'm opposed to same-day registration. FWIW, if it can be done with stringent safeguards against fraud - something I rather doubt, given the our government works - I would support it.
In any event, the sooner you manage to distinguish between discussion, disagreement and vituperous personal attacks the more enjoyable this little corner of cyberspace will be for all concerned. Not that - given your painful immaturity - that's likely in the near future.
P.S.: Irony, in terms of names used to post on this board, is totally lost on you, isn't it?
Sad, really.
As on point as ever.
Sigh.
By the way, same day registration does exist for people who moved into a community or turned 18 after the registration deadline.
I think the technical capabilities now exist to make same day registration possible for everyone else. What's lacking is funding from the state and federal government to make it work in such a way that it doesn't create fraud.
The current voter file is only as good as the registrars in every town. Most are paid absolutely squat for the work they do. What's worse is their appointment is often more politically contentious than choosing candidates for Mayor.
Some towns do a great job in keeping their rolls up to date. Others don't even bother to 'canvas' the district to see who may have moved or passed away (state law doesn't require a canvas, only a match against the national change of address database). I can think of one town's rolls that are artificially inflated by hundreds of kids that grew up and moved away, yet remain as active voters. They remain so because their parents still live in town and never filed a change of address.
A solution to the problem is two-fold. First, we need a nationalized voter registration database or at the very least a statewide database that's accessible at the polling station to ensure same-day registrants are not committing fraud.
Most communities run their election day voter lists on paper, so the only way to discover a fraud is after the election has taken place. A same day registrant could criss-cross the state voting everywhere he or she goes since there's no centralized database tracking voters the day of the vote.
Funding for new technology is needed so that every town has an electronic list at the polling site that will have real time access to the statewide database to ensure an individual doesn't register all over the state on election day. It can also track who's actually voted, something registrars are not required to report to the state currently.
Let's get the voting machines fixed first with a paper trail. Then we can worry about registration.
So, Malloy wants the fraud that made Wisconsin infamous
I suppose he felt left out from the Moody and DeStefano mishaps and wants to eondorse his own
ON WISCONSIN : JS ONLINE : NEWS : MILWAUKEE : E-MAIL | PRINT THIS STORY
Some sites show huge vote gaps
17 wards have at least 100 more votes than voters; 2 miss by over 500
By GREG J. BOROWSKI
gborowski@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Feb. 1, 2005
Record-keeping surrounding the Nov. 2 presidential election in Milwaukee is so flawed that in 17 wards there were at least 100 more votes recorded than people listed by the city as voting there.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/feb05/298205.asp
More about Malloy's cheesehead idea. It's been a debacle for years
Monday, November 4, 2002
Contact: Chris Lato, (608) 257-4765
DEMOCRATS PUSH ELECTION DAY VOTER FRAUD
Dem flyer encourages out-of-state residents to come to WI polling places
(MADISON) – A flyer being distributed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin actively encourages fraud at state polling places on election day, the head of the Republican Party of Wisconsin revealed today in calling for the state Elections Board to investigate.
The flyer, which was paid for by the Democratic Party, urges prospective voters to "Bring photo ID (it doesn't have to be from Wisconsin)" to the polling place and take advantage of Wisconsin's policy that allows election day registration.
Wis. Stat. 6.55(2)(b) states that prospective voters must "present acceptable proof of residence." The statute goes on to list a dozen acceptable forms of identification. An out-of-state photo ID is not among them. "
"Task Force Finds More Ballots Cast Than Registered Voters
Mayor Vows To Fix Flawed System
POSTED: 3:00 pm CDT May 10, 2005
UPDATED: 11:29 am CDT May 11, 2005
Email This Story | Print This Story
MILWAUKEE -- A task force that was investigating possible voter fraud in Milwaukee released its findings Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic said investigators found more than 4,500 ballots were cast in Milwaukee than registered voters in the Nov. 2 election."
"The Journal Sentinel's Greg Borowski continues to put together some fine work on Milwaukee's Election Day problems. His latest find is that 1,242 votes came from voters whose addresses do not exist. Reporters found a park, a baseball diamond, an alley, and a bridge at addresses voters claimed in order to vote. What isn't surprising is that 75% of those bad addresses came from same-day registration. Mayor Barrett's chief of staff Patrick Curley took the ostrich approach and said this was no sign of fraud. If it wasn't fraud then why would a voter use a non-existent address?"
BTW, the Kerry margin in WI was less than 1/10 the Bush margin in OH
Speaking of flawed elections - it happens here at home, too. The CT Supreme Court has ruled this week that Middletown must hold new, city-wide election for all City Council candidates, because of a faulty voting machine in one district. David Bauer, a Democratic who had lost his Council race, brought suit:
The justices of the state Supreme Court had no question the machine was flawed. Last election, Bauer tallied 188, 179 and 169 votes on three machines at the Farm Hill Elementary School, but the fourth machine gave him only 12 votes. A later inspection revealed that machine had a broken lever. In past years, that same lever has proved similarly troubling: Lever 4A tallied 12 votes in 2001; zero votes in 2002 and zero votes in 2004, records show.
The city appealed a lower court ruling for Baer which would have required a re-vote only in Baer's district. Their strategy backfired, resulting in a Supreme Court decision that now forces a January 24 re-vote for all Council seats. The Court argued that all voters should have a say in if and how the make-up of the Council is remade in the new election.
Shame on the city for its incompetence and for resisting a re-vote, and good for the courts for taking democracy seriously. These problems could have been avoided with a voter-verifiable paper trail.
Even more about 'the fraud that made Wisconsin infamous'.
First, let's look at who Chris Lato is. A quick search reveals that he is the Communications Director of the Wisconsin Republican Party. He appears to have a long history of accusing Democrats of everything imaginable, but not substantiating it.
In the example quoted from the Journal Sentinal from last February, it is notable that the anonymous poster didn't post the follow up article from Dec 5th.
"The nearly yearlong investigation into voter fraud in 2004 has yielded no evidence of a broad conspiracy to try to steal an election, U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic said Monday.
He predicted that perhaps 'a couple of dozen' isolated cases of suspected fraud might be charged"
I just want to be clear here: Is it possible/likely for someone who is registering same day to use phony identification to register so that they can vote under multiple identifications?
With all of the problems facing our state (joblessness, lack of access to healthcare, affordable housing, property tax reform, etc), why should we worry about same day registration when it is incredibly easy for people to register to vote in the weeks and months prior to an election?
Aldon, is the major newspaper in Milwaukee a front for the GOP?
Why is it tens of thousands of voter discrepancy don't bother you?
I got it . Kerry "won" Wisconsin.
Really, Truly. Because if he didn't Ohio wouldn't have mattered and all the lefty conspiracy theories wouldn;t work.
Democrat never worry about fraud if they think they can do it better than Republicans
OK, let's see what Democrat operatives in the Midwest had to say about the 2004 election
JOIN THE KERRY TRAVELERS TO BATTLEGROUND STATES
Election Weekend Overnighter!
WISCONSIN
Saturday 10/30:* Buses leave both 57 W. Grand (Chicago) and 826 Custer (Evanston) at both 8am and 9:30am. Volunteers are asked to arrive a half hour before departure.* Buses leave Wisconsin shortly after 6pm and return to Chicago/Evanston by 9pm.
Sunday 10/31:* Buses leave both 57 W. Grand (Chicago) and 826 Custer (Evanston) at both 8am and 9:30am. Volunteers are asked to arrive a half hour before departure.* Buses leave Wisconsin shortly after 6pm and return to Chicago/Evanston by 9pm.
Monday 11/1:* Tentatively, we are scheduling no buses for Monday. We hope to get everyone up to Wisconsin by carpool.
Tuesday 11/2:* Buses leave 57 W. Grand (Chicago) and 826 Custer (Evanston) at 8am.Volunteers are asked to arrive a half hour before departure.* Buses leave Wisconsin shortly after 8pm and return to Chicago/Evanston by 11pm
http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/news/opinion/stories/opinion_20999959.shtml
Editorial: Doyle losing more ground on ballot fraud problems
The secret is out. Wisconsin is a state where people can manipulate the election ballot system. Use someone else’s name and register on Election Day.
And here’s the weirdest quirk: The governor of our state doesn’t care if you lack photo identification.
Is this a bad dream? No, more like the truth. An investigation announced Tuesday in Milwaukee by U.S. Attorney Steven M. Biskupic and Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann about the ease of ballot manipulation in 2004 federal elections was shocking.
About 4,600 ballots were cast than there were voters in the city of Milwaukee. Many other cities may count hundreds or thousands of fraudulent ballots on top of that.
Dear Dearfan84
Your source Website is partnered with the following Far Left Organizations. Thats not a credible source either my friend.
ACORN
AFSCME
American Federation of Teachers
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
United with the Million Mom March
Democracy for America
Environment2004
League of Conservation Voters
MoveOn.org Voter Fund
Music for America
NARAL Pro-Choice America
Partnership for America's Families
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Sierra Club
Voices for Working Families
21st Century Democrats
AFL-CIO
America Coming Together (ACT)
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Clean Water Action
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
EMILY's List
The Human Rights Campaign
The Media Fund
Moving America Forward
NAACP National Voter Fund
National Education Association
People for the American Way
SEIU
USAction
Young Voter Alliance
Wonder how Gallup could have missed the mark so badly in Wisconsin?
Bush holds edge in Wisconsin
Poll results are based on telephone interviews with registered voters in Wisconsin. (Related link: Gallup Organization)
1. Suppose that the presidential election were being held today, and it included John Kerry and John Edwards as the Democratic candidates, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as the Republican candidates, and Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo as independent candidates. Would you vote for:
Likely Voters JK GB
2004 Oct 27-30 44 52 1 * 3
BTW, the right wing front the USA Today commissioned the poll
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/polls/2004-11-01-wisc.htm
well, DF, I presume USA Today and Gallup are reputable, so mind proffering an explanation other than vote fraud why Bush lost WI with the large lead he had election eve?
Anonymous
Follow the links. I quoted the Journal Sentinal's Dec 5th followup to the article from earlier this year.
The Editorial from the Oshkosh Northwestern you refer to is from last May about the beginning of the investigation.
What you keep quoting are the initial allegations, what I am referring to is the outcome of the investigation into these allegations.
It is really disappointing that you continue to repeat discredited allegations.
So Aldon, "no broad conspiracy"
There's your rationale
So do it yourself ballot stuffing by disparate groups is ok?
Sorta like saying loan sharks are fine as long as they aren;t in the Mafia
the central point is the WI elections are easily scammed. So why do it here?
Anonymous: No, that is not my rationale. It is a quote from the Journal Sentinal in their report about U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic's investigations into the allegations of voting fraud.
People continue to make wild allegations, but in this case, when investigated by a Bush appointed U.S. Attorney, the allegations are baseless.
“However, we're still treating the symptom, not the disease”
Genghis, I think this is very much on point. I’m currently reading Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community. The book talks a lot about the decline of civic involvement. As an example, he refers to the DDB Needham Life Style surveys. “The post-baby boom generations – rough speaking, men and women who were born after 1964 and thus came of age in the 1980s and 1990s – are substantially less knowledgeable public affairs, despite the proliferation of sources of information”.
What is more of a concern is that the research indicates that most of these changes are intercohort and not intracohort. “Very little of the net decline in voting is attributable to individual change, and virtually all of it is generational. Throughout their lives and whatever their station in life and their level of political interest, baby boomers and their children have been less likely to vote than their parents and grandparents.”
I haven’t gotten far enough into Bowling Alone to get a sense of what Putnam believes can be done to address the underlying issue of the decline in civic involvement. However, I am interested in what you and others think needs to be done to address the generational aspects of the decline in civic involvement.
18 people charged in one election in one city for election fraud isn't a problem
and the "poor record keeping" just happened to benefit the Democrats
Thanks for clarifying that, Aldon
Aldon,
It's pretty Obvious that the Republican party has never wanted 'The masses" involved in politics.
Todays Republican party puts being a consumer way ahead of being a citizen.Remember, what the people were asked to do for their country by W immediately after 9/11 was to go shopping not prepare to sacrifice.
PS I think the anon we're dealing with here is obviously the rightwing whackjob Ghengis handed his site over to a couple of weeks ago.Sometimes mistakes like that can hurt a site for a very long time.
"It's pretty Obvious that the Republican party has never wanted 'The masses" involved in politics."
2004 election results
Bush (Incumbent)
62,040,606
Considering it was the highest number of votes for any candidate in American history, seems the masses worked out ok. Then again, most Republicans take the franchise more seriously than a trip to the ATM..oops, you need to set up a bank account BEFORE can use a bank card. Obviously causing elections to be as involved as consumer banking violates some penumbra in the Bill of Rights....yeah, that's the ticket
Anon -
If you can't be bothered to learn how to put a link in a post, I can't be bothered to follow the links.
AFT is a "far left organization"? Explain that to the teachers who taught you to read...
The NEA is a far-left organization...? Gosh.
Aldon, the book you're reading sounds interesting. I may have to pick it up from the library.
The author is correct that the two generations following the Boomers (Gen X, born 1964-1981, and Millennials, born 1982-2001) seem less knowledgeable about the world around them, especially public affairs. This is because Gen X especially felt incredibly cut off from the political discourse that, in many ways, seemed to be the exclusive province of a generation that was their polar opposite. Millennails are better, but their knowledge tends to be dangerously superficial.
Better information literacy is part of the solution. How many people know how to reliably mine the web for useful and accurate information? I teach information literacy classes at the college library where I work (info lit is mainly about how to use library resources, but also how to search and evaluate what's out there). If people know how to actually find good, solid information, then perhaps they won't be so ill-informed. That's only a piece of the puzzle, though. the two younger generations need to feel that they have a measure of control over their country in order to start taking an interest. That may never happen to my generation, but the Millennials, according to Strauss and Howe, have a civic-oriented generational personality. As they mature, they may come to civic discourse naturally as members of their generation gain power.
Perhaps our local liberals want to take a page from overseas
"The most common trick was "carousel" voting, in which busloads of Yanukovich supporters simply drove from one polling station to another casting multiple false absentee ballots."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/11/28/wukra28.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/11/28/ixportal.html
Aldon quoth:
“Very little of the net decline in voting is attributable to individual change, and virtually all of it is generational."
I hestitate to remark, since I still haven't looked at this book. But I am not sure how something can be "attributable" to generational change. It just sounds nonsensical to me. As if being part of some sociologist's demographic actually caused something in the world or in one's choices. I mean it may be descriptive, but prescriptive (or even proscriptive)?
Can you clarify what the author is saying?
GC said:
If people know how to actually find good, solid information, then perhaps they won't be so ill-informed.
Sounds like an endorsement for good old-fashioned liberal arts education and civics to me. I'm all for it.
DeanFan, how is it that its never your candidates who take responsibility for their mistakes. dean losing was a huge conspiracy and joe trippi's fault and destafanos campaign mistake was that of a low level staffer. it is the job of the candidate to win and do things right. very true, joe trippi was in over his head. and so was howard dean. as for the amount of money the dems have which you mention. both the RNC and the RNCC have a significant amount more cash on hand than our cmtes. thankfully, the our Senate Cmte has more then the R's though.
Genghis, i also think it deserves a mention that Sen Lieberman helped lead the ANWR fight after it was taclked on to the defense bill. he should get blame when he deserves it, and should get credit when he deserves it.
For people who havent had a chance to read Malloy's entire Press Release on this issue, I wanted to highlight another section that has been overlooked -
This is an incredibly important issue," said Malloy, "and figuring out responsible ways to increase people's participation in our electoral process has long been a goal of mine.
I dont think Malloy simply wants to transcribe the Wisconsin laws(or for that matter any of the other states laws that allow same day voter Reg.) onto our State books.
I think he wants to do the "right" thing on a touchy subject - touchy because of the possibility of voter fraud.
By combining this new Registration arrangment with a (hopefully) better Sec. of State record keeping system, we may be able to remove the prospect of fraud, while increasing voter turnout and helping to eliminate feelings of disenfranchisement.
Win-Win? Only time will tell.
so after 47 comments i have learned that the orchestration of Dean's loss in Iowa never would have happened if the voters in CT weren't so disenfranchised form the political system becaus they can't show up on elction day and just vot!!!But I thought proviaional ballots were available for the Presidential election except where the local town committees said don't do them.
Malloy is offering a solution to a problem that has nothing to do with the challenges facing CT. As somebody siad this blog is about CT Local Politics. Let Wisconsin solve its own problems
Too bad after 47 comments you didn't learn how to put a link in your comments...
GC - Great minds think alike!
Anon(10:14) Election fraud is election fraud and I do not condone the actions of the 18 people charged with election fraud in Wisconsin. I do not know who the 18 people voted for, so I cannot claim that these 18 people voted for Democrats. If you can provide evidence to back up your assertion, I would be very interested in how you got that evidence.
However, there is a big difference between the falsely alleged massive voter fraud that Republicans have been asserting and what the Republican U.S. Attorney found really happened.
GC, Bowling Alone is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it. This website describes Putnam as follows:
"Following graduation, he joined the University of Michigan faculty, becoming a full professor of political science in 1975. In 1979, Robert Putnam moved to Harvard as a professor of government and subsequently served as department chair from 1984 to 1988. In 1989, he was appointed dean of the Kennedy School of Government and Don K. Price Professor of Politics. He is now the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University – and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in American politics, international relations, comparative politics, and public policy."
Chris McC, you are right about the "description" aspect of the studies he cites. He is refering to statistics showing that the year a person is born is very statisticly significant in their probablity of voting, and other factors are much less significant. This is what is refered to as intercohort changes. These changes are a long time coming and as such are typically a long time in leaving as well.
I think Genghis is right to talk about how 'Better information literacy is part of the solution.' I am a big fan of improving information literacy, and I believe that the Internet can play a key role in improving information literacy. However, I think there are other aspects, of people feeling less involved and less connected in their communities. This gets to aspects of Bowling Alone. It isn't just political involvement that has waned. Fraternal organizations, bowling leagues and sewing circles have all seem similar declines.
blue in CD2
We may disagree on who the best candidate is for Governor or about different issues, but I absolutely have to agree with you about Malloy's proposal for same day registration.
I believe that Connecticut will be better off by candidates competing to come up with the best ideas on how we can make Connecticut better.
In particular, the same day registration idea, like many of the other ideas we should be considering are touchy issues that need leaders with vision and courage to propose.
Mayor Malloy has come up with a very good proposal and should be complimented for it. It provides a stark contrast to the lack of leadership that the Rell administration demonstrates.
Postscript:
For those interested in more about Putnam, please stop by and read comments on my blog entry about civility and Robert Putnam.
Gabe: you've got the wrong anonymous as I only expressed an opinion or two through the thread and had no link to offer any info. I'm still looking for analysis that says same day is good or bad abd if I find it I'll link it for you. I talk to people about issues and nobody has said they'd like to register the same day they'd vote. They have said iif they had something or somebody to vote for they would. Politicains/elected officials are supposed to work for us not the other way 'round.
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