The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) had its people call our people to set up a meeting for June 18th. They asked to learn about our campaign on election reform. More specifically they asked, "What are the most pressing issues facing the American electoral process in 2008 This past Wednesday, we got the full biography on who their people are, exactly.
The OSCE is "is a very large regional security organization which includes 56 member countries, hailing from a range of six geographical regions: Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe, Western Europe, South Caucus, Central Asia, and North America. The OSCE's operation, which has headquarters in Vienna, projects three primary pillars of objectives: the politico-military, the economic and environmental, and the human dimension. Institutional structure parallels can easily be drawn from the OSCE to the European Union.
Under the human dimension pillar, it was the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) that contacted Common Cause.
A trifecta of the ODIHR's international election advisers has embarked on a "needs assessment mission" aimed at identifying and investigating the most prominent issues facing the practical due process of democracy. The United States is the next leg on the OSCE's tour of election monitoring in "longer established democracies." Ultimately, the ODIHR plans to piece together a report foroutlining what it learns from its efforts. They have already completed a similar assessment of the most recent national elections in Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
So, what are the most pressing issues facing the 2008 election? Tova Wang, Common Cause's Vice President of Research, Susannah Goodman, Director of Voting and Election Reform, and Lauren Coletta, Director of International Programs outlined a full barreled arsenal of election-reform bullets.
* The Help America Vote Act
* Voting machine back-up--which refers to maintaining a paper trail behind electronic voting machines, in case of technical failure requiring a vote audit or recount.
* The availability of same-day election registration.
* Criminalizing voter suppression and intimidation--specifically referring to college students and minority communities
* National Popular Vote Campaign--tackling the existence of the Electoral College.
When the ODIHR delegation returns to Vienna next week, it will issue a preliminary report on its findings, and make its case to come back to the States in the fall for on-site election assessment. They will target selected "hot-spot" locations (i.e. swing states, projected close races, places that experienced logistical problems in 2004 and 2006, and counties that have reported controversy on key election reform debates.) As Common Cause provided a national, non-partisan perspective on election issues facing our 2008 campaign, a return leg will provide a state and county angle, shedding local light on the logistics of America's electoral reform issues.
