Justice thought that Delay's Pinstripe redistricting was illegal. It is a reminder that there are many ways to steal an election, and the best way is to steal it before a single vote has been cast. People here know how Harris and Blackwell used Secretary of State offices to push elections in their direction. That's why if the vote is your issue -
John Bonifaz is your candidate. He is running for Massachusetts Secretary of State, the office which oversees elections, and has enforcement authority to file lawsuits in order to obtain compliance.
Massachusetts has tried to be on the forefront of reform, but the corruption in the state, in both parties, has repeatedly been a stumbling block.
Galvin, the current Secretary of State has acted more like an attorney general, going after bad retirement investment vehicles. He's well liked, he's a straight shooter, but there is a growing sense that he is not shooting at some of the important targets.
What he has not done is put voting center stage. And he is considering a run for governor. For John, this office is the one he wants to hold, not as a stepping stone to others. For those that doubt the power of lawsuits to make change - think of the string of lawsuits that resulted in open primaries, open voter registration, one man-one vote and enforcement of the Civil Rights Voting Act. It is in the court that the public defends its rights from those who would take them away, and it is by using the power to go to court, and the resources to win in court, that the election system has been opened up, year by hard year, in a struggle tht goes back decades.
The Bay State has public financing laws, and yet problems with implementation have kept them from being a model. There are problems with ballot machines - and the Secretary of State is the officer who is supposed to oversee the loan program to change them. There are towns with questionable city council arrangements, and a ballot box system that has repeatedly broken down when people wanted to vote. That's the dirty secret of elections in this country: we say we want everyone to vote, but every Secretary of State in the country hopes it own't happen, because there would be monumental lines and chaos of they did. Every one of them worries "What if we held an election, and everybody came?"
We've seen how district lines can tilt representation, and Americans have known for years that who draws those lines are as important as who counts the votes. Bonifaz as Secreary of State will have a powerful lever ro push for redistricting that works to establish, and not thwart, the will of the people and their right to actually choose, as opposed to rubber stamp, their representatives.
We've seen how money decides who is "viable" and who is not. But so far no state has been able to rid itself of the power of money in elections. Massachusetts voters have said time and time again they want to end the dialing for dollars campaigning, and media air wars, but, so far, they have not had a Secretary of State who could make this happen. John Bonifaz would be this candidate.
John will be the voice for people across the country who have been packed into top heavy districts, blocked from the ballot box, and bombarded with media campaigns. Everyone has been talking about how our election system is broken, the way to change that is to win elections, and overwhelm the barriers.
That John can bring national attention to an issue is shown by his book on impeaching George Bush - overnight it created a legal basis for impeachment, and galvainized people to action. He is already reaching out to the most progressive of organizations, and is being backed by people like Joe Trippi. For those who wnat Americans to take back the power, he is already recognized as one of the leaders of the movement. He wants Democracy for America, down to the very bedrock of public policy. It isn't enough to want free and fair elections, one has to win elections, and provide this precious right every day.
One reason the right to vote is not center stage is the belief by politicians that it is an issue without a constituency - that it cannot win elections, raise mney and create visiblity. John Bonifaz will put it on the national agenda, by aggressively using the powers of the office to force it on the agenda. The Republicans have shown how decisions in the Secretary of State office can be used to tilt elections, which means that if the right ot vote is your issue, electing high profile people to this position is essential.
And yet there is huge national constituency that wants to see elections back in the hands of the people, as opposed to the palm of the privileged. There is a huge national constituency that wants to see elections about the will of the public, and not a game to be played by the powerful. This is a clear chance to advance this cause.
That the time has come for the right to vote to take center stage is clearer every day. With Diebold withdrawing machines rather than reveal the code, with the GAO reporting that the video poker voting system is not secure, with Rush Holt pushing a bill in Congress for Verifiable Paper Ballots, with the increasing evidence that Tom DeLay used Federal money to tilt elections in Texas, and Bob Ney and Bob Taft being wired to corruption to tilt elections in Ohio - the right to vote in all of its forms has just been under siege, it has been over run by a national system of cash and connections. If it weren't for this assault on liberty, we would be talking about President Gore's scond term, and Iraq wouldn't be an issue. If we do not turn the tide, who knows what war we will be talking about under a President John McCain.
To do this requires people who are willing to crusade for the public's right to vote, who realize that it is at the ballot box that American Revolutions are affirmed. It requires people with brilliant legal skills, and the ability to persuade. John Bonifaz can hold his own on the same stage as Barney Frank, he can build bridges across the progressive movement - even across the unspoken divides within it. He is as progressive on this issue as any candidate anywhere, in fact, the most progressive on this issue of any candidate anywhere. Afterall, if the Registry of Motor Vehicles can find the drivers, and the Dpeartment of Revenue can find the taxpayers - why can't the Department of Elections find all the voters? A state that only had 55% of its taxpayers paying taxes, or only 55% of the drivers having licenses would be considered to be a nightmare of incompetence - why is 55% turnout - at best - considered acceptable?
Make Massachusetts a model for free and fair elections - verifiable, clean, and open. Put someone in this office with national reach, and show the entrenched political class - of both parties, that the American people have said enough is enough, and that they want their country back.