Election Reform: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease?
Earlier this month, the Center of the American Experiment released a report, entitled “No Longer a National Model: Fifteen Recommendations Fixing Minnesota Election Law and Practice.”The report, authored by American Experiment Senior Fellow Dr. Kent Kaiser with the input of numerous (but unnamed) contributors, criticizes aspects of the election system in Minnesota and proposes solutions for some of the problems seen in recent days, especially in the lengthy and controversial recount process in the 2008 US Senate race. The fifteen proposals have already been lauded by the Pioneer Press and Politics in Minnesota. Many of the proposals are no-brainers. For example, it’s unacceptable that “Military absentee ballots were 16 times more likely to be rejected and that most of them were rejected because they were received after Election Day.” Logistical problems and a tight schedule from primary to election day in Minnesota are to blame. Another example: (although the debate often carries a par
