Election Integrity

Voting should not be an endurance sport in this country. In 2012, voters in some states waited hours to make their voices heard on Election Day – particularly in neighborhoods with a high proportion of African-American and Latino voters. There are lots of reasons for the long lines – poorly-resourced polling place, broken voting machines, inadequately trained poll workers, and voter processes in dire need of modernization.

The problems behind the long lines, clerical errors and misallocated resources that bedeviled the 2012 election remain unaddressed in many states as the 2014 campaign enters its final days, according to a new report from Common Cause.

Voters may need more than good intentions to make it to the polls according to social science research that indicates voters who make voting plans are more likely to follow through. And in a new report, Protecting the Vote in 2016: A Look at 11 Swing States, the nonpartisan democracy reformers at Common Cause demonstrate why, firing off warnings like flares into the night sky for voters in 11 swing states where new laws may catch some voters unaware.

What’s a politician to do when too many eligible voters – voters who could lean against him – register on the rolls? If you’re Georgia Secretary of State Kemp, keep ‘em off.