Posted 2/28/2005 05:12:00 PM by Douglas

Whenever Senators Clinton and Boxer get together, you know it's going to be good, right? Not always.

To encourage more citizens to exercise their right to vote, the Count Every Vote Act designates Election Day a federal holiday and requires early voting in each state. The bill also enacts "no-excuse" absentee balloting, enacts fair and uniform voter registration and identification, and requires states to allow citizens to register to vote on Election Day.

Does there need to be some uniformity in our nation's voting practices? Absolutely. Does this make any sense? No. Registering on the day of the election? Holy crap! I can't imagine anything that could possibly go wrong with that! I'm sure no one would register and/or vote twice, would they?

How 'bout some accountability to those making promises during the election?

The Count Every Vote Act also includes measures to protect voters from deceptive practices and conflicts of interest that harm voter trust in the integrity of the system.

Ok, sounds good. Who would argue with that? I'm all for some integrity in the system, but I don't think this is the place to start.

The bill also makes it a federal crime to commit deceptive practices, such as sending flyers into minority neighborhoods telling voters the wrong voting date, and makes these practices a felony punishable by up to a year of imprisonment.

It's a shame that both parties try to get the other's voters to stay home, but this is ridiculous. How about some integrity and accountability with the friggin' candidates? Is there going to be any felony imprisonments for the lying candidates when they "harm voter trust in the integrity of the system?" Of course not. It's pretty much all they do.