The Washington Monthly reports that 90% of Republicans are confident the election will be fair. Only 35% of Democrats have similar confidence.
When New Zealand was changing it's electoral system a decade ago, the witty ex-Prime Minister, David Lange, commented that
Letting politicians design electoral systems is like letting panel beaters [=auto body repair people] design intersections
The genius of the American political system is that it recognizes that everything is political. The flaw of the American political is that it doesn't know when to stop.
Putting the conduct of elections under the control of partisan officials at the state and county level corrodes the confidence of the other side in the integrity of elections.
There are plenty of fair-minded public-service oriented people out there who would be able to administer elections without suspicion of bias. If places as diverse as Iowa and the United Kingdom can re-apportion districts without parties controlling the process, it surely should be possible for the other 49 states.
Posted by robe0419 at October 26, 2004 12:37 PM