Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 14, 1993 TAG: 9305140396
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Disenfranchised, of course, were not only Republicans but also blacks and poor people. It was not until the GOP won the battle to end such restrictive and undemocratic registration practices that viable two-party competition came to the Old Dominion.
With that bit of a history lesson, we have to wonder: What are Republicans now afraid of? Is there something about people participating in the democratic process that makes them nervous?
Indeed, if - as Republicans maintain - the majority of Americans support their party's stances and philosophy, GOP lawmakers ought to have led the fight for the so-called motor-voter bill. Instead, they led the fight against it.
Fortunately, this major overhaul of voter-registration laws passed anyway, and will be signed by President Clinton. It's a big victory for the Lincolnian principle:
"That government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
For the purpose of the motor-voter legislation is not simply to bring uniformity to what's now a hodgepodge of state voter laws. Nor is it simply to make registration easier.
The purpose is to encourage people to actually vote - to get involved with this government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Not enough people are involved now. America's record of voter turnout is abysmally low. Only 50 percent of those eligible to cast ballots did so in the 1988 presidential election. That figure rose to about 55 percent in last year's election - but it's still dismally low for a nation that holds itself up as the beacon of democracy for all the world to follow.
Study after study has shown that unnecessary inconveniences in the registration process are an obstacle to higher voter participation. This new federal law will lower that obstacle by:
Permitting individuals to register at the same time they apply for or renew a driver's license at states' motor-vehicle offices.
Since about nine out of 10 people of voting age get licenses to drive, this provision could dramatically increase registration beyond the nation's current 65-percent level.
Permitting them to register at numerous state or federal offices.
Yes, these include welfare and unemployment offices, which some Republicans in Congress found highly objectionable.
Why? Shouldn't poor people or those out of work have a say in electing leaders? In asserting that the legislation will benefit Democratic candidates, do Republicans believe only those with Democratic leanings are poor and out of work?
Permitting registration by mail.
Republicans often argue that this might lead to voter fraud.
Voting officials must always be on guard to protect the integrity of the electoral system. But the potential for abuse has been overstated by the legislation's GOP foes.
Many states already have implemented the motor-voter concept; Virginia, to its credit, is in the process of doing so.
Virginia also has taken the first step toward registration by mail. Because the Virginia Constitution requires registration in person, a constitutional amendment was passed by the 1993 assembly to facilitate the expected federal change.
That amendment will have to be approved again by the '94 assembly, and then by the voters in November 1994, to avoid an idiotic and expensive dual system.
(Without the amendment, the federal law would apply to federal elections in Virginia, but not to state and local elections. This would create an unnecessary duplication of record-keeping and other paper work.)
More convenient registration, of course, does not guarantee increased voter turnout. Unfortunately, alienation and apathy still may cause many to go fishing on Election Day.
The motor-voter bill, however, is a good start. If it's simpler to register, people may be more likely to exercise the voting privilege. As Sen. Wendell Ford, D-Ky., said: "This bill reconnects the American people to their government."
If Republicans can provide the best government and the best candidates, they have no reason to be skittish about the reconnection.
by CNB