To reduce fraud, we need impartial election oversight – immediately

In a Young Turks interview with Rosario Dawson, Linda Sarsour & political analyst Nomiki Konst, Nomiki tells how Iowa college students at an Iowa college she visited were barred from participating in their local Democratic caucus. At 7pm the doors were closed, excluding 400 students who had patiently waited on line for four hours to select their party’s presidential candidate. The caucus location selected this year was much smaller than previous years’ locations and only a small number of would-be caucusers could be accommodated.

Is it relevant that the state legislators write the primary rules? That the legislators are heavily influenced by the parties they represent? That the local party chief for that college has endorsed Hillary Clinton and that she also chose this year’s caucus location? That young people – like most college students – have been voting for Bernie Sanders in overwhelming numbers?

Maybe. What is clear, is that there are substantial election irregularities in our election process this year and nothing significant is being done to correct them. Elections should be redone when massive voter disenfranchisement happens like it did in the recent Brooklyn and Arizona Democratic primaries. But even when chicanery is obvious, no redo has been put on the table anywhere. Is that right?

In my opinion, there needs to be oversight at the national level of the election process to eliminate fraud; the Voting Rights Act needs to be completely restored; elections need to be redone when substantive wrongdoing is discovered … and Americans need to noisily insist on having a one person, one vote impartial election system – exactly the way our elections are supposed to be.

Oh yeah, almost forgot! Hat tip to Ivan Wei for finding the interview (he’s a big Young Turks fan) and Ari Wei for telling me about the students’ plight highlighted in it.