Voting Officials nationally Face New Rules to Bar Conflicts
Arkansas Passes Act 489 in 2007
by Ian Urbina, The New York Times: The state officials who run the nation’s elections - most with little oversight - are facing new efforts to limit what have been widely criticized as political and financial conflicts of interest. Across the country, state voting officials routinely participate as candidates in races they are responsible for overseeing or act as leaders in their political parties. . . .
While federal ethics rules require lawmakers to wait a year after leaving office before they can take a job lobbying their former colleagues, no such rules exist for election officials, creating a revolving door between election administration and the voting machine industry. In recent years, top election officials in at least five states have moved from government posts directly into jobs as lobbyists for the voting machine industry, which itself grew immensely after Congress allocated billions of dollars to help states update equipment.
Accusations of overt impropriety or bias are rare. But voting experts and a growing number of lawmakers say the perception of conflicts of interest undermines public confidence in the integrity of the voting process. “I think we are reaching a crunch point where Americans are coming to realize that they cannot afford an election that is run by people who have a stake in the outcome,” said Robert Pastor, director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American Univ. and executive director of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, a panel convened in 2005 to recommend ways to improve elections. Past efforts have focused on fixing the machines rather than the people who run them, Dr. Pastor said. But recently, several states have taken steps to insulate election administration from the influence of money and politics. In the past year, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio and Virginia have enacted laws limiting the political activity of election officials. . . . [Read More]
Arkansas: Arkansas passed ACT 489 in 2007 legislative session. The Act establishes overlapping terms for county election commissioners and restrictions of certain political actions by county election officials. There appears to a be conflict between this new act and existing laws that identify who will be the election officials which in turn affects politics within the counties. Current Arkansas law designates that the chair of the Democrat and Republican parties as election commissioner unless they opt to give up the position. Since Act 489 restricts the actions of election officials, it appears that the many county political party leaders who also serve as election officials would not be able to assist, direct or personally campaign for the party's candidates. Some form of legal resolution may be needed to resolve the conflicts and head off the potential of a multitude of lawsuits.
Tags: Arkansas, election commissioner, election reform, elections
While federal ethics rules require lawmakers to wait a year after leaving office before they can take a job lobbying their former colleagues, no such rules exist for election officials, creating a revolving door between election administration and the voting machine industry. In recent years, top election officials in at least five states have moved from government posts directly into jobs as lobbyists for the voting machine industry, which itself grew immensely after Congress allocated billions of dollars to help states update equipment.
Accusations of overt impropriety or bias are rare. But voting experts and a growing number of lawmakers say the perception of conflicts of interest undermines public confidence in the integrity of the voting process. “I think we are reaching a crunch point where Americans are coming to realize that they cannot afford an election that is run by people who have a stake in the outcome,” said Robert Pastor, director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American Univ. and executive director of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, a panel convened in 2005 to recommend ways to improve elections. Past efforts have focused on fixing the machines rather than the people who run them, Dr. Pastor said. But recently, several states have taken steps to insulate election administration from the influence of money and politics. In the past year, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio and Virginia have enacted laws limiting the political activity of election officials. . . . [Read More]
Arkansas: Arkansas passed ACT 489 in 2007 legislative session. The Act establishes overlapping terms for county election commissioners and restrictions of certain political actions by county election officials. There appears to a be conflict between this new act and existing laws that identify who will be the election officials which in turn affects politics within the counties. Current Arkansas law designates that the chair of the Democrat and Republican parties as election commissioner unless they opt to give up the position. Since Act 489 restricts the actions of election officials, it appears that the many county political party leaders who also serve as election officials would not be able to assist, direct or personally campaign for the party's candidates. Some form of legal resolution may be needed to resolve the conflicts and head off the potential of a multitude of lawsuits.
Tags: Arkansas, election commissioner, election reform, elections
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