VOTING RIGHTS

1. VOTING RIGHTS “The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society.” -Thomas Jefferson-

2. FELONS DISENFRANCHISEMENT • Definition: Felony disenfranchisement gives power to the states and U.S. territories to take away felons’ rights to vote. • 48 states and the District of Columbia prohibit incarcerated inmates to vote. • 36 states do not allow individuals on probation to vote.

3. IMPACT • Restricts the idea of Universal Suffrage which states that all adults have the right to vote without distinction as to race, sex, belief, or economic or social status. This would include right to vote or participate in government, most often in a democracy. • Is not democratic in the idea that it only allows the voice of the chosen people to be heard. • Even rehabilitated individuals can permanently lose their right to vote. • Individuals that regain their right to vote in a state only apply to that state.

4. COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY FELONY DISENFRANCHISEMENT • The majority of these groups affected by felony disenfranchisement are minorities, specifically blacks. • 13% of blacks lose their rights to vote. • At the current rate of incarceration, 3 in 10 blacks will lose their rights to vote sometime in their lives. • As many as 40% of black men could lose their right to vote permanently

5. SOLUTION • A new amendment to the constitution. • “ All power involving who can vote at a federal level should be removed from the states and all U.S territories and returned to the federal government.” • This new amendment would be the first step in equalizing the nation on the subject of felony disenfranchisement. • The government could then see how the people as one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, want to handle felony disenfranchisement

6. VOTER-OWNED ELECTIONS • What are Voter-Owned Elections? • The Old Big Money System • Contrast of the two • Some current results

7. VOTER-OWNED ELECTIONS: CREATING AN OPEN, FAIR. AND ACCOUNTABLE SYSTEM • Everyday citizens have become just as important as downtown developers • Proven reform to ensure our political system is fair, open, and accountable.

8. FAIRNESS – MONEY ADVANTAGES REMOVED • Portland’s Old Big Money System: 1. Rewarded big money campaigns and candidates 2. Heavily favored incumbents 3. Was dominated by special interest groups

9. THE CURRENT PRIMARY - Dan Saltzman Past and Present - Other notable incumbents

10. CONTRAST BETWEEN VOTER-OWNED ELECTIONS AND THE OLD BIG MONEY SYSTEM:

11. In 2004, 69% of all campaign contributions to city candidates came from just 7% of the donors – in checks of $1,000 or more. • Voter-Owned Elections opponents and their businesses gave more then $450,000 – almost one out of every five dollars contributed to city candidates in 2004.

12. VOTER-OWNED ELECTIONS DELIVERING RESULTS • Maine, Arizona, Connecticut, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico and Vermont have adopted VOE for races ranging from legislators to statewide offices to judges. • Albuquerque recently adopted full public funding. VOE reform is under active consideration in cities including Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose.

13. REAL LIFE EXAMPLES • Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano • Former Maine legislator Ed Suslovic

14. INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING (IRV) -What it is -Benefits of IRV -How it works -IRV at PSU

15. WHAT IT IS - Involves the ranking of candidates. - Ensures winning candidate has the majority of votes. Majority winner: Receives over 50% Plurality winner: Receives the most votes

16. BENEFITS OF IRV - Runoff Election: Second election between just 2 top vote getters. -Acts as “Instant” Runoff Election if no majority is clear -Gives voters a wider range of choices -Eliminates the “spoiler factor” -Saves taxpayer money -Promotes a stronger 3rd Party

17. HOW IT WORKS - First choice preferences are made - If no majority winner, lowest vote getter gets 2nd and 3rd choices distributed - If still no majority, repeat process until there’s a majority

18. IRV AT PSU - Was used in 2006 by ASPSU to elect student council President and Vice President. - ASPSU was very satisfied and pleased with the IRV system and plans on using it again for future elections.

19. ELECTRONIC VOTING -How it works -Experiences -Pitfalls

20. THE SYSTEM – HOW IT WORKS A quality voting system should include these three characteristics: 1. Anonymity for all voter’s 2. Tamper resistant to protect against miscalculated votes 3. Accessible to the whole community

21. EXPERIENCES • Voting machines are expensive to purchase. • Hidden costs of electronic voting are tremendous (security, storage, updates). • In Ohio these problems lead to the Secretary of State of Ohio ordering a comprehensive technical review and postponed the purchase of electronic machines.

22. PITFALLS • Software malfunctions. • Malicious Software. • Unsupervised access to machines. • Computer viruses & spreading. • The Diebold's software & hardware; Extra expenses to fix these problems. • The use of smart cards. • Easy ability to make homemade smart cards. • Voters can cast multiple votes using homemade smart cards; they can do this with out it being traced back to them.