☆ Rosenberger: trust in governance starts with trust in elections
Inductiveload, LGPL, via Wikimedia Commons
In an Opportunity Now exclusive series, we’re asking thought leaders about the bigger picture behind this fall’s election, and what direction California is heading in. Manhattan Institute fellow Tim Rosenberger opines:
Californians are debating taxes, housing, and the cost of living this fall, but underneath all of it is a simpler question: do they still trust how the state counts their votes? A state that cannot build homes fast enough or keep its middle class is also a state that takes weeks to tell voters who won. Those failures share a root. Institutions that cannot show their work lose the public's confidence, and a state that loses confidence cannot govern.
California no longer holds an Election Day. It mails a ballot to every voter registration (in CA or out, real or fictitious), allows third parties to collect them, counts ballots that arrive a week after the polls close, and routinely needs weeks to finish the count. Federal prosecutors opened multiple fraud investigations after the June primary and have since charged cases of illegal registration and forged petition signatures. Meanwhile, Sacramento has fought in court and passed a new law to keep federal officials from examining its voter rolls. Whatever the investigations find, a system that resists scrutiny cannot expect trust, and suspicion in politics always finds someone to blame.
The Constitution supplies a remedy for federal races. The Elections Clause gives Congress power over the time, place, and manner of electing its members, and Congress should use it to require in-person voting on a single day, with proper identification and narrow exceptions for those who truly cannot appear. Californians deserve results they can believe on election night. Until they have them, no debate over housing or taxes will stay settled.
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