Election Commission By T.S. Khanna, October 27,2016.

Foundation For Better Government,

Election Commission

T.S. Khanna, October 27,2016

Like at every election, in the current presidential election people wonder where is the election commission hiding, what is it doing, and what are its responsibilities?

For survival of democracy, public confidence in the election process and its results is absolutely essential.  There seems to be a noticeable erosion in public confidence which has been  building up during the last several decades.

To reconstruct and re-establish the lost confidence, it is recommended:

1.     No personal attacks on and degradation of the opposing candidates be allowed.  The complaints re the inadequacies and deficiencies of personal and public character of the opposing candidates be registered with the election commission to verify and inform the public in a dispassionate, impartial, and fair manner.

2.     No false claims, fabricated or misleading “truths or facts” in candidates campaigns or speeches be allowed.  Non-conforming candidates be disqualified by the election commission.

3.     Require the candidates and the media to stick to the candidates’ proposed plans, policies, and programs and their comparative analysis for public enlightenment.  The Constitutional freedom of the media is rooted in impartial journalistic integrity, not in advocacy journalism.

4.     Make sure, beyond any doubt, that dead citizens do not keep voting as they have been caught doing in the past.  Some believe that the number of dead voters has been rising: 1.8 million voting in critical areas.

5.     Make sure, beyond any doubt, that non-citizens are not able to vote.  Some believe that the number of non-citizen voters has been rising.  This is a silent invasion on American sovereignty.

6.     For quality control of electable public officials, adopt and enforce pre-requisites for the candidacy of each public position, with equal opportunity for all.  All candidates must be free of foreign influences.  Such an influence is a camouflaged invasion on American sovereignty.

7.     For quality control of voters, adopt and enforce adequate pre-requisite for the taxpayers to qualify as voters, with equal opportunity for all.

      For a candidate, if winning is everything, for the taxpaying voter, fairness of the election process and quality of the elected candidate is everything.

    Quality control of the candidates, the voters, and the election process is the government’s responsibility.  To squarely discharge its responsibility, a non-partisan election commission with adequate powers must be established soon.  The commission may operate under the administrative control of the Supreme Court.