November 2008 – Page 3 – Pursuit of Liberty

Go Vote Now

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I went to my polling place this morning and the lines were so long (at 7:00 am) that I decided to go to work first. My first thought was that maybe I didn’t need to remind anyone to vote today but then I thought better of it. Everyone go vote as early as you can (especially in the Bountiful 18th Precinct) so the lines won’t be so long at 6:00 pm when I will go try again. Due to sickness and the subsequent catching up I was unable to participate in early voting last week so now I will be trying to go after work. I will be waiting in line if necessary.

I talked to Scott, one of my coworkers who voted this morning, and he noticed that one of the things that made the lines go slower was having people standing at the voting booths reading about the issues (such as the Constitutional Amendments). Having done his research in advance, he was able to cast all his votes and leave while the people at the other booths before him were still making their choices. Based on that, perhaps the Lieutenant Governor might provide a one page summary of those types of issues that will be on the ballot so that people can read while they stand in line rather than holding up the line by reading at the booth.

While you are waiting to vote, go have a look at Jordy’s list of potential ways to choose who you vote for.

Pursue a Real Solution

I have been staunchly opposed to this expansion of the House of Representatives to grant D.C. a voting representative. The political compromise of giving a balancing seat to the Republicans (for Utah) until the next census doesn’t make the move any more legal. Despite what some people may believe I am not opposed to D.C. having a voting representative, but I am opposed to giving D.C. special treatment. As the House of Representatives was intended to represent the people of the United States it would make sense to amend the Constitution to state that:

The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states, districts, and territories of the United States. (changes in bold)

To that ammendment I would add (perhaps as a separate section) the stipulation that:

The size of the House of Representatives shall be determined by the decennial census and the number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand nor fall below one for every two hundred thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representative; (changes in bold)

Such an amendment would provide a legal remedy to the non-voting status of D.C. but would also fix the same issue faces by other U.S. territories. At the same time it would reverse the arbitrary limit on the size of the House of Representatives that was enacted in 1911. This would all be done without resorting to political deal-making in which the deal makers (like our beloved Senator Hatch) feel free to ignore the law of the land in the name of whatever they deem as good.

I have already talked about Thirty-Thousand.org but I was surprised to learn of other groups that oppose Public Law 62-5 (as that bill is known). There was even a good article about it in the Daily Kos back in 2006 (which is where I picked the upper bound at 200,000). Back then the Republicans were in control of both houses of Congress, now that Democrats are in control I doubt that the Daily Kos would be very supportive of such a change since it’s their party that is holding the concentrated reins of power now.

I would like to see all those who are interested in returning to population based representation start working with DC Vote to encourage them to push for a full and legal solution to their issue rather than sadling us with the illegal, “politically expedient” half measure they have been pursuing. Perhaps reminding them that they would be able to get three or four voting members of Congress might pursuade them to take up the banner.