Voting Commission Ideas Can Significantly Improve Elections

The Presidential Commission on Election Administration issued recommendations today to improve the voting experience and reduce long lines.

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law released the following statement:

“The Commission’s report marks a significant advance in the way we think about voting,” said Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice. “Too often voting issues have been marked by partisan discord.  The Commission makes clear that there are achievable, bipartisan reforms that can be implemented now to transform voting in America.  Most importantly, it recognizes that we can’t fix long lines until we first fix our outdated voter registration system.”

“The Commission’s recommendations are a significant step forward,” added Wendy Weiser, Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center. “They make clear that nationwide our voting systems have common problems, which can be fixed with common, national solutions.  Especially important is the consensus that we need to modernize voter registration, make early voting available to all Americans, and put systems in place so no one waits longer than 30 minutes to vote. These will be the new benchmarks against which future elections will be judged.

“However, more must be done to make sure the voting system works for all Americans.  We need to fix the Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court eviscerated last year, in order to protect against restrictive and often discriminatory voting laws.  We look forward to working with members of Congress and election officials across the country to modernize voting and bring our system into the 21st century.”

The Brennan Center’s recent report How to Fix the Voting System, outlines four ideas to improve elections. Also see more on our signature proposal, Voter Registration Modernization.

For more information or to set up an interview, please contact Naren Daniel at naren.daniel@nyu.edu or 646–292–8381.