Obama Calls For US Election Reforms
February 23, 2013
While Americans are proud of their democracy, some are saying the election system is not working as it should. Reports of long lines at the polls have led President Barack Obama to call for reforms in the way Americans vote.
As President Obama celebrated his re-election last November, he acknowledged that too many people waited too long to cast their ballots.
In his State of the Union address in February, the president said long waits at the polls are a betrayal of America's ideals.
He told the story of 102-year-old Desiline Victor of Miami, Florida. "When Desiline arrived at her polling place, she was told the wait to vote might be six hours. And as time ticked by, her concern was not with her tired body or aching feet, but whether folks like her would get to have their say," he said.
Obama announced a new commission to study the electoral process, led by the top attorneys from his 2012 campaign and that of Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
While the commission looks for answers, others are debating exactly what is wrong with American elections.
At Washington's Heritage Foundation, senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky says Obama exaggerated the problem. "And the myth is that everyone had to wait in long lines to vote on Election Day last November. We know that is not true. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) did a study on this, and the average wait time across the country was only 14 minutes," he said.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25