Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Mass to Outlaw Ken Blackwell

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Section 6: Voters’ Bill of Rights

The state secretary shall provide a voters’ bill of rights in a form suitable for posting for every polling place for every election.

Should this document be distributed as called for in the legislation, I expect it will help voters when they get to the polls. John Bonifaz, candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth has already posted his version here. His is a great starting point, but as it says in the legislation, the Secretary shall publish, “after consulting the joint committee on election laws of the general court.”

Section 7: Anti-Kenneth Blackwell

I call Section 7 the “Anti-Kenneth Blackwell” clause because this section outlaws the Secretary of State from serving as chair, treasurer or other principal officer of any political committee.

The state secretary, a city or town clerk, or a member of a board of registrars of voters or election commission in any city or town shall not serve as the chairman, treasurer, or other principal officer of any political committee, but any such public officer may serve as the chairman or principal officer, other than treasurer, of the political committee organized on his own behalf.  This paragraph shall not apply to city or town clerks who do not administer elections.

As most know, Ken Blackwell served as co-chair George Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004. Blackwell was also Ohio’s Secretary of State (and is now running for Ohio Governor). Of all the problems with the 2004 election, no state has raised more doubt in voter’s minds than Ohio.

With any legislation, unintended negative consequences are a risk. These changes however, strike me as positive with few if any negative consequences. Smart Mass!

Mark

Smart Mass, Dumb Mass

Read more about the Ohio debacle… None Dare Call it Stolen by Mark Crispin Miller, Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election… by Mark Crispin Miller. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Rolling Stones Article, Was the 2004 Election Stolen. The Conyers Report by Rep. John Conyers.

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Comments

  1. we’re damn fools to allow this Ken Blackwell/Kay Harris crap to perptuate.

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    I’ll be happy when we have a voting process worthy of some of our finer American hallmarks (federalism, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights) and not the anti-American crap coming from the Republicans lately (spying on ordinary American citizens, abandoning the Gulf Coast, abandonong our troops in Iraq.) That starts with establishing some voting guidelines and continues with making elections federal and state holidays, with paid time off and ample access to the polls. We fail the American Dream every time we let another 2000 happen.

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    Sometimes I don’t know who I should be more pissed off at, the Republicans for continuing to lie and cheat hardworking Americans, or the Democrats for not doing anything about it. Either way, I’m pissed, and I hope Blackwell rots. Any black man should have more than a little understanding of just why voting rights are so important (from 3/5s to the poll tax.)

    • lest we assume history never repeats itself. wasn’t the poll tax a systematic, though technically legal form of blocking millions of blacks from voting??

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      from the Crispin Miller, Harper’s article, linked above:

      The first phase of malfeasance entailed, among many other actions, several months of bureaucratic hijinks aimed at disenfranchising Democrats, the most spectacular result of which was “a wide discrepancy between the availability of voting machines in more minority, Democratic and urban areas as compared to more Republican, suburban and exurban areas.” Such unequal placement had the predictable effect of slowing the voting process to a crawl at Democratic polls, while making matters quick and easy in Bush country: a clever way to cancel out the Democrats’ immense success at registering new voters in Ohio. (We cannot know the precise number of new voters registered in Ohio by either party because many states, including Ohio, do not register voters by party affiliation. The New York Times reported in September, however, that new registration rose 25 percent in Ohio’s predominantly Republican precincts and 250 percent in Ohio’s predominantly Democratic precincts.)

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      What’s that? The co-chair of the incumbent president’s campaign put more voting machines in friendly districts than he did in unfriendly districts? well no wonder nobody shows to the polls, they know their vote will simply not count. It’s a crock, a sham and damn disgrace.

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      Rep. John Conyers had the balls to actually hold these hearings and was duly spurned by spineless Democrats. Is it a wonder the Democrats can’t win, when they refuse to stick for something, anything. If there’s one way to keep the liberal activists from getting involved with the Democrats, laying down on issues like this is certainly the most effective.

  2. Interestingly, that’s also point #7 on John Bonifaz’s 10-point Voters’ Bill of Rights:

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    blockquote>7. Ensure non-partisan election administration

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    The Secretary of the Commonwealth must be a Secretary for all of us, regardless of party affiliation. The Secretary should not be allowed to serve as a co-chair of campaigns of candidates. To ensure the people’s trust in the integrity of our elections, the Secretary must conduct the administration of elections in a non-partisan manner.

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