Andrew Gumbel .com

Andrew Gumbel is promoting his book Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America. Our (as yet unnamed) grassroots election reform group was well represented at Andrew Gumbel's Seattle Townhall appearance.

I really enjoyed this event. Gumbel is a very good speaker. He was able to say an awful lot, without notes, and make it all coherent. I also like his approach and style. To the point without pointing fingers.

Gumbel engages in what may be called "comparative democracy". He traces the history and differences between the USA and other mature democracies. For any one who didn't know: the USA is out of whack with democratic norms. So much so that we do not meet the Carter Center's requirements for international observation.

The root cause is our two-party system. They have gamed the system to ensure their own continued dominance. Not news, but Gumbel does a great job of explaining the history, mechanics, and consequences.

We have a highly decentralized election system, with over 4,000 different jurisdictions. With no accountability or uniform standards. With conflicts of interest (e.g. election vendors giving money to those who certify voting machines). With no congressional oversight. In contrast, everyone else has centralized elections administration. Most everywhere else also has public financing of elections, equal access to the media, proportional representation, etc. Gumbel was careful to note that while everywhere has problems (e.g. fraud, corruption, corporate influence), ours are much larger.

Gumbel compared how the tight elections of Florida 2000 and Washington 2000 were resolved. Florida was extralegal, no holds bared, and undermined confidence in our election system as well as the integrity of our democracy. Gorton and Cantwell in Washington agreed to play by the rules and accept the results. Of course, come Washington 2004, Rossi and Gregoire fought as though we were in Florida.

Note that in 2000, Florida and Washington were using essentially the same equipment. The problem was not the machines. As always, it was the rules, procedures, and the commitment to uphold democracy.

The history of surpressing the vote is very interesting. Up to the industrial revolution, the USA had 80% turnout. Then, fearing a loss of power to the labor movement, both parties worked to reduce the vote. Arcane rules, gerrymandering, etc. I was surpised to learn this was the start of the secret ballot and the origin of complicated ballots, all the better to confuse and disenfranchise.

The biggest reason for low-turnout, however, is that our races are not competitive. Why vote if your vote doesn't matter?

David Brewster (of Townhall, MC for the night) mentioned that British Columbia is experimenting with redistricting rules which maximize competitiveness over other criteria. (Compare that to the half-baked "reform" notions put forth in California, Ohio, and elsewhere. You can see we're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.)

Gumbel noted "the falacy of the technological fix". In other words, the rush to buy new voting gear as a cure-all to a current procedural mess. He recounts a history filled with many such silver bullets. From pull levers to punchcards to optical scanners. Every system has its problems, vulnerabilities. The better systems are low-tech (e.g. paper ballots, manual counting) and consequently highly verifiable.

Much, much more was said. Seattle Channel was present to tape the event. Alas, once again, I haven't been able to find any URLs. When they post the content, I'll update with URLs. So please bookmark this entry if you're curious.

Lastly, mark your calendars: Mark Crispin Miller will be promoting "Fooled Again" at Seattle Townhall Nov 10th (link). Our group will be present and handing out literature.