Well, the House Privileges and Elections Committee decided where Governor Kaine’s and the Democrats’ election reform agenda was going this year.
Nowhere.
Early voting. Later.
“No Excuses” absentee voting. Sorry.
A bipartisan redistricting commission. Not for this census.
And, Governor, what’s that DNC thing you’re heading?
To its credit, the Privileges and Elections Committee passed two election reform bills that make a lot of sense.
Bill Janis spearheaded legislation (co-sponsored by Kenny Alexander) that enable military personnel stationed overseas to submit absentee ballots more easily. Janis discovered the problem during the 2008 campaign and has worked insistently and diligently to rectify it. The legislation should pass both chambers and Janis deserves the lion’s share of the credit.
Bob Marshall obtained committee passage of legislation designed to halt online political contributions using prepaid credit cards. The practice raised eyebrows during the presidential campaign because of the difficulty of knowing whether the money is really coming from citizens or from foreign nationals. This legislation may face obstacles in the Senate, yet it appears to me that Marshall is on the right track.
The conclusion is pretty straightforward.
If an election reform is going to pass the GOP controlled House in 2009, you’d do well to have a Republican as a major sponsor. And you might want to avoid having the Governor or one of the Democratic candidates for Governor endorse it.
It’s nothing personal (well, aside from the Governor and that DNC stuff).
Just politics.
Bob-
Great site!
Want to link to it from TC.