By Kenneth Kowald
My first vote was in a presidential election. I had finished my Army stint and was about to finish college. I was 21, which was the voting age in those days. I was proud and in awe of the process as I cast my vote in my old elementary school, PS 102 on Van Horn Street in Elmhurst.I remember reading the New York Journal-American the day after that presidential election in which I voted for the first time. In that day's newspaper, the columnist Westbrook Pegler, once the scourge of corruption in union affairs, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, but now a very conservative and grumpy writer, whose candidate had lost, started his column (and I think I remember this fairly accurately) with this snarling comment: “Well, the American people got what they deserved.”Sound familiar, looking back on Nov. 2, 2004? There are many right now who might be tempted to say the same thing. But, let's look ahead. And, the first thing to look at, I think, is voting itself.In all the years I have voted in Queens, I have rarely had to wait very long to go into the voting booth. And, while a machine may have had a glitch from time to time, it was really momentary and did not deter me or others from voting. Of course, that is not true throughout Queens and New York City and we know that we have to do something about our aging machines and how the polling places are staffed. And, certainly, there should not be long waiting lines, even in a presidential election.But, what shall we do? Electronic voting sounds good. But I would like a printed report on how I vote. I can get a printed receipt from a machine at a gasoline pump, so why not at a much more important machine, the one I vote on? And, why not have a uniform, national system for voting for president? After all, last time I looked, my passport wasn't issued in the name of New York state or Queens, but in the name of the United States of America.And, how about making the presidential election date a national holiday? That way, there are no excuses about not having the time to vote. Many more election reforms are needed about registration, poll watchers, counting of ballots, improved absentee ballot provisions and a host of others. And how about election officials who are not appointed because of their party affiliations? I won't even get into the whole Electoral College bit, but that is certainly something worth looking into. Why should a vote in Queens count for naught, in many cases, when a vote, for the other side in South Carolina counts for naught, too?There is some hope on another front: Non-partisan commissions drawing election districts, not having it done by politicians. Arizona has such a system, which has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. John McCain, who knows something about election reforms. At least eight other states are considering such action. Why not New York? An election law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School said recently, “There is a problem when the turnover of the United States House of Representatives is lower than it was in the Soviet Politburo.”At least as far as New York City is concerned, thanks to too many problems in the last election, we may be heading for something better. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has appointed a task force to recommend improving voting procedures. Let us hope it reports in time for this year's election and that sound recommendations result in action.I remember my reaction to Westbrook Pegler's comment, as I stood on the East bound platform of the Long Island Rail Road in Forest Hills. I was appalled by what he wrote. But, as I think about it, isn't it true?We get what we want, even if it hurts. Only, next time, let's make sure we get what we want because we have made voting for a president the experience it should be – open and fair and truly national in scope.We shouldn't wait to get the necessary improvements underway. Our elected officials in Washington could lead the way in helping resolve these problems, long before we have to deal with another election mess. There are bills now in Congress, one co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. In decades past, New York state and its legislators were in the forefront of progressive actions – why not now?It is more than ironic – it is a disgrace – that the nation that holds itself out to the world as the beacon of democracy can't get its act in order when it comes to national elections.
