Letter to Mr. Bush
Nov. 6th, 2004 11:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageI will cross-post this to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beetiger's forum for the same, and send it to Mr. Bush, very soon.
Dear Mr. Bush,
I am not actually American. I watched the election process this past week, asked questions of my American friends when something confused me, and generally learned a great deal about your electoral process in the States. I would like to offer a suggestion from Canada that might eliminate some problems in your next general election.
The biggest problem you seem to have is transparency. A significant portion of your people believe the vote was rigged, and the election was therefore invalid. Frankly, at this point, it does not matter if that is true or not. What matters is that it is perceived to be true. An election is exactly as valid as the people believe it is. Democracy in the West suffers when elections are seen to be invalid by their own people. If many Americans believe that, there are even more people overseas who probably believe it, and they will lose faith in democracy as a result. You cannot afford that if you are trying to spread democracy.
I believe the solution lies in an office we have in Canada, that of the Chief Electoral Officer. The person who holds this office is:
1) not known to be a supporter of any political party;
2) not permitted to vote, as that would indicate leanings towards a party;
3) considered to be above reproach and bribes by all the players and the public, insofar as such a thing is possible.
You need a chief electoral officer. You need someone whose job is to see that the election is fair, valid, and transparent from the top down to the very last voter. You need this person to establish standardized voting procedures for federal elections, and to enforce them and undertake any recounts that turn out to be necessary.
You are now in a perfect position to do this. You yourself cannot be elected for a third term, so your personal stake is lower now. It would increase your credibility with your own people. Most importantly, it would begin to build bridges in your sharply divided nation.
I hope you will consider this as a valid suggestion from a concerned neighbour.
beetiger's forum for the same, and send it to Mr. Bush, very soon.Dear Mr. Bush,
I am not actually American. I watched the election process this past week, asked questions of my American friends when something confused me, and generally learned a great deal about your electoral process in the States. I would like to offer a suggestion from Canada that might eliminate some problems in your next general election.
The biggest problem you seem to have is transparency. A significant portion of your people believe the vote was rigged, and the election was therefore invalid. Frankly, at this point, it does not matter if that is true or not. What matters is that it is perceived to be true. An election is exactly as valid as the people believe it is. Democracy in the West suffers when elections are seen to be invalid by their own people. If many Americans believe that, there are even more people overseas who probably believe it, and they will lose faith in democracy as a result. You cannot afford that if you are trying to spread democracy.
I believe the solution lies in an office we have in Canada, that of the Chief Electoral Officer. The person who holds this office is:
1) not known to be a supporter of any political party;
2) not permitted to vote, as that would indicate leanings towards a party;
3) considered to be above reproach and bribes by all the players and the public, insofar as such a thing is possible.
You need a chief electoral officer. You need someone whose job is to see that the election is fair, valid, and transparent from the top down to the very last voter. You need this person to establish standardized voting procedures for federal elections, and to enforce them and undertake any recounts that turn out to be necessary.
You are now in a perfect position to do this. You yourself cannot be elected for a third term, so your personal stake is lower now. It would increase your credibility with your own people. Most importantly, it would begin to build bridges in your sharply divided nation.
I hope you will consider this as a valid suggestion from a concerned neighbour.