Remarks by the President on Election Night
McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois -- November 07, 2012, 12:38 A.M. CST
For Immediate Release -- whitehouse.gov
[... President Barack Obama:]
I want to thank every American who participated in this election. (Applause.) Whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time -- (applause) -- by the way, we have to fix that. (Applause.) Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone -- (applause) -- whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard, and you made a difference. (Applause.)
[...]
Yes indeed.
Waiting in line for hours and hours, just to exercise the most basic of American rights -- is a serious problem, in need of equally serious solutions.
But since Elections are administered by state and local governments, what realistically do we, mere citizens, expect our Federal Government to do about it?
Here are a few Federal (and possibly Executive) solutions, proposed by a well-respected Washington Post writer:
* Require modernization of registration at the state level.
* Mandate a uniform early voting period.
* Set standards for voting machine access per capita.
* Establish a consumer product database for voting machines
* Strengthen the Election Assistance Commission.
Sure, such moves would likely draw protests from Republicans who would claim the feds have no business trampling on states. But with memories of severe and widespread voting problems fresh in people’s minds -- problems that threaten the franchise itself -- pushing for a major overhaul might even be good politics.
What Obama can do about all those voting problems
by Greg Sargent, washingtonpost -- 11/09/2012
[Click the above link for more details on each "franchising" suggestion.]
People have "died" to expand and protect this precious American right ...
Should we let it slip-away, inch by inch, hour by hour, by simply letting this encroachment slide -- slip-away like so much proverbial water, under the bridge ...
Elections & Voting
whitehouse.gov
One of the most important rights of American citizens is the franchise -- the right to vote. [...]
For practical purposes, this was not the end of the voting rights struggle for African Americans. Because of widespread discrimination in some states, including the use of poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests, African Americans were not assured full voting rights until President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
[...]
We must not let this unique moment in modern-day history pass away, unacknowledged and unaddressed. As some sort of "No harm, no foul."
Because "... by the way, we have to fix that."
The American Franchise demands it.