The quiet struggle for voter rights and election reform

It’s funny that a few dozen men in powdered wigs from over 200 years ago created a framework of governance that we all live within. I revisited these documents, things I hadn’t seen since History class in high school. The Articles of Confederation, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, a list of Amendments… The cornerstones of our government and society. Yet so many of them have smashed into the future like a wave that swells before exploding onto the beach.

How does recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington State, or medicinal marijuana in nearly 24 others, get rationalized by the law of Federal preemption?  How can you reconcile arms deals and overthrows of dictatorships with Section 3 of the 14th Amendment? How do I look at Article 1 Section 9 of the Constitution and not wonder about the donors to the Clinton Foundation… Although she didn’t “officially” work for them at the time, their interests remained her interests.

The Founding Fathers wrote the constitution without any concepts of partisanship or the colossal power that would become the United States. The people that built this nation to spite an Empire, are rolling over in their graves as we become one. The things like the GOP and Democratic parties of today were not directly imagined, but like any good architects they installed fail safes into their system with the 12th Article of the Bill of Rights; “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This sweeping statement covers political parties and their electoral processes.

The major two parties (which are private entities) are given the power, by the federal government, in regards to issues like partisanship and by extension to primaries and caucuses. However, “the people” also reserve those rights, and there are a lot of people who have taken the figurative “red pill” and are infuriated. Just look at groups like Anonymous. They feel those rights are not being respected.

A few weeks ago I talked with Dan Howle from Independent Voters Project and he echoed many of the sentiments coming from all of these groups: demanding election reform and defending voters rights.

Recently I spoke with Kristen Hoffman, the founder and president of Operation Reinstate Democracy, which is a “non profit” organization that is funded by citizens “to educate the people on public policy, voter rights and registration”. ORD is not as large as the other groups I reached out to: Projectvote.org, Brennan Center for Justice, Fair Elections Legal Network, Fairvote.org, Independent Voters Project. Regardless of size, Kristen and ORD are fighting the same battle: election reform and restoring voter’s rights.

ORD posits: “The privatization and exclusion of the two party system disenfranchises unaffiliated voters even though it is the voters’ tax dollars that are funding these state primaries.”

We spoke about the historic 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby v. Holder, which allowed Sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act to come under attack. The ACLU intervened in some cases, but there remains potential for voter suppression. ORD claims that “without federal government supervision, states like Wisconsin and Texas were able to pass voter ID laws that exclude the poorer voters who do not have the ability to obtain the required identification. While not overtly racist, these laws target minorities and the poor.” Weakening the Voting Rights Act is a terrifying notion. To my knowledge it hasn’t been well publicized. This made me wonder what else isn’t well publicized.

I found an obscure bill proposed during the Clinton Administration. H.R. 2527, passed into public law 104-79. Section 3 suggests a reassignment for the responsibility of election results to be filed with the Federal Election Commission instead of the House of Representatives. A departure from the stipulations set by 12th Amendment. I contacted the Federal Election Commission, to clarify the effect of this Bill, and they gave me a kafkaesque runaround, referring me from one department to another.

This Bill was not alarming in 1995, but since then the FEC has become notorious. The Citizens United Supreme Court case paved the way for unlimited expenditures in presidential campaigns and the creation of Super-PACs, often funded by large corporations and billionaires.

The case wasn’t decided unanimously and the dissenting opinion of Justice Roberts appears quite frightening. He said: “A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.”

Justice Roberts’ fear are valid. It completely changes the way campaigns are financed, and puts the FEC in a greater position of power. This group includes attorneys, businessmen and women, journalists and academics. Obama is among the large group of people who have spoken out against this decision.

We live in an era where people hang tea bags from their heads, declaring that the Constitution is supreme, while at the same time our own government is seemingly dismantling (or ignoring) pieces of the checks and balances those antiquated but fundamental documents established. Not only do politicians have carte blanche for campaigns, but the voting process itself, and the accessibility of voting, is being potentially defrauded. Even the ACLU is afraid to tackle Citizens United because they fall under the umbrella of its protection.

Dozens of independent groups will continue filing lawsuits and educating the public. In 2016, reality might be a big pill to swallow. It’s a lot easier to take the blue pill, relaxing in ignorant bliss: let media voices whisper in your ear, take your medications, and continue living in the soft padding of a cozy little apathetic bubble. Perhaps build a giant wall to hide behind.