Will any candidate touch election reform? ... "voter fraud" abuse, voter ID laws, conflicts of interest, intimidation ....

Will any candidate touch election reform? | by clammyc tc3 | Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:01:56 PM EST | I'll be brief.
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... Hopefully they know about the Pulitzer Prize worthy work being done by McClatchy's Washington Bureau about the tie in between the US Attorneys and the issues of "voter fraud" against Democratic party voters or officials.
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...I'm talking about voter suppression, especially anything that is done with the sanctioning of or funds from a local or national political party. I'm talking about stricter and more immediate penalties for such violations, and for intimidation on or around Election Day.

I'm talking about blatant conflicts of interest being outlawed. There should never be the same individual holding a campaign position for any candidate (especially the Presidential candidate) and a top position with respect to how elections are run. With Ken Blackwell in Ohio and Katherine Harris in Florida BOTH having such close ties to Bush/Cheney, even without the highly controversial results and pre-Election Day tactics used by those officials this would be an unacceptable conflict of interest.

I'm also talking about (and while there may be logistical issues here, something must be done) no recess appointments of FEC Commissioners, like vote suppressing Hans von Spakovsky. And I'm also talking about some methodology whereby the egregious acts we have seen by Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, Monica Goodling, Paul McNulty, Robert Popper, Brad Schlozman, Tim Griffin and the rest of those who were responsible for violating laws regarding political affiliation in hirings, pursuit of bogus fraud cases while ignoring destroyed voter registrations, narrow interpretations of the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act to purge voter rolls as opposed to making it easier for people to cast a ballot all can not happen again.

Would this involve a nonpartisan election oversight committee that operates independently from the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department? Maybe. Would this involve basic changes to election laws to ensure that no party has even the appearance of a conflict of interest (and maybe not a hidden or relatively tenuous one but certainly not one like Blackwell or Harris had)? Absolutely?

Would this make those who engage in such acts think twice? Possibly but maybe not. However, if Blackwell was not in a position to do what he did with respect to voter registration cards, the distribution of voting machines and stonewalling the vote count/recount and if Harris was not in a position to take the actions she took with respect to certifying the vote before it was truly counted in 2000, then some (not all, but some) of this wouldn't have happened.

And if there was some mechanism whereby voter ID laws such as the one engineered and supported by von Spakovsky in Arizona and Georgia, or that was overturned by decree in Minnesota or the one that is now being pushed for in Mississippi would not be enforced until proven constitutional (as opposed to being enforced until proven unconstitutional), then that could help as well.
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After all, messing with elections cuts the heart right out of a democracy. Somebody has to take the first step. And that someone - even without touching on supposedly "tin foil" ideas can get the ball rolling so that there is somewhat of a fair election process in this country.

This country deserves nothing less. Hell, it should DEMAND nothing less.