2004 Elections:
Special Times, Special Issues

(November 2004)

Bonnie Tenneriello, issue editor, writes:

The November elections loom as this issue of Mass Dissent goes to press, and the stakes have not been higher in recent memory. In this tightly contested race, every vote will count – at least in swing states – yet it is not certain that every vote will be counted. The irregularities of the 2000 elections are still raw for many voters, and there are signs that once again many will be disenfranchised by states’ registration and voting procedures. Guild members across the country are working to ensure that no voter is left behind, through voter education and poll monitoring efforts.
Many of us in Massachusetts may feel complacent about our state’s electoral procedures but, as Juan Martinez of MassVOTE writes, we would be wrong. Newly registered voters – particularly from communities of color and immigrant communities -- may be thwarted by confusion at the polls and, ironically, by the identification requirements of the Help America Vote Act that was passed after the 2000 debacle.
Massachusetts-based citizens groups are responding to the challenge.
Nadine Cohen of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law discusses the coordinated efforts by the Lawyers Committee, MassVOTE and many other groups to inform voters and monitor polls. As this issue goes to press, the Massachusetts November 2004 Election Protection Project is training volunteers in election law and legal rights, and planning to monitor 200 targeted locations in Massachusetts.
Guild students are leading efforts to ensure fair voting practices. Sam Brooke writes about Boston-area law student involvement with national election monitoring groups. Dawn Johnson writes about the Suffolk Law Civil Rights Group’s successful efforts to register voters and to mobilize students in support of national poll monitoring efforts.
Of course, fair voting procedures are a necessary but not sufficient condition for meaningful elections. Galen Nelson of the Commonwealth Coalition reminds us that reducing the influence of money in politics is also key to enfranchising voters, and discusses the prospects for campaign finance reform in Massachusetts.

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