Guest
Contributors
Jeff
Denham and Bruce McPherson
Restoring
Integrity into the Elections Process
Bottled up in committee...
[Jeff Denham and Bruce McPherson] 3/10/06
Scandals,
secrets and lies lead the headlines far too often for state
and federal politicians. Yet, not all elected officials are “crooked
politicians.” So,
why is the public trust in government and our elected officials so low?
Too many times unscrupulous individuals make
deals for their own political gain. If the public can’t
trust the official entrusted to ensuring our election system
is fair, who can they
trust?
As elected officials, we take seriously the jobs
we have been given to represent the people throughout the State
of California.
One way we can do that is to make the office of Secretary of
State, the individual entrusted with our elections process, a
non-partisan position. It shouldn’t matter whether this
person is Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green or any other
party affiliate. What matters is that this person leads and oversees
an unbiased election system.
Despite a small spike in recent voter registration,
nearly 30% of California’s eligible voters are not registered
to vote. Nearly 6 million potential voters have not signed
up for their
protected right to express their opinion and vote for their future
representatives, those elected individuals who will be setting
policy and impacting their daily livelihoods.
Together, we are speaking out and garnering support to restore
integrity to the elections process. We believe our proposed Senate
Constitutional Amendment 4 is the right thing to do for California.
This amendment will propose to the people of California that
the office of Secretary of State be non-partisan, because the
individual who holds this position must be trustworthy and above
the political fray. By removing party politics, integrity can
be restored and voter confidence will be increased.
We are focused on restoring the integrity that should be a hallmark
of the Office of the Secretary of State in California. Modern-day
Secretaries of State such as Bill Jones (1995-2003) and March
Fong Eu (1975-1994), as well as historic figures such as the
longest-serving Secretary of State, Frank Jordan (1911-1940),
were all recognized and appreciated for their honest stewardship.
We believe that not only electing honest individuals, but also
eliminating any appearance of institutional partisanship, will
help in this regard.
The precedent for this amendment has already been established.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction is a non-partisan position.
We believe that both education and elections should be politically
neutral because they are so critical to the oversight and administration
of state functions. In fact, many newspapers have already spoken
out in support on this issue including: Sacramento Bee, San Francisco
Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Jose
Mercury News, Modesto Bee and Merced Sun-Star.
SCA 4 is currently bottled-up in the state Senate Elections,
Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendment Committee. We encourage
you to write and call your elected state officials to show your
support of SCA 4. Together, we can restore faith and integrity
into our elections process. CRO
Jeff Denham
is a California State Senator (R-Merced) and Bruce McPherson
is California Secretary of State
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