Some lessons in austerity
Our opinion: Today’s school budget electioons offer, at best, the bare minimum that public education needs. Don’t even consider not voting. And voting down budgets might bring severe consequences. If...
View ArticleElections boards block progress
Our opinion: We’re concerned that local election commissioners’ opposition to a small change in the way voter registrations are done may be about voting rights, not technology. Americans got a wake-up...
View ArticleNo choice: you must go to the polls
Wondering how to get more people to participate in American civic life? In The Atlantic, Norman Ornstein proposes his idea. He says that voting should be mandatory, or at least encouraged, like with a...
View ArticleBoiling it all down to just 30 seconds
Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to go on TV, candidates have sought to exploit a medium that demands brevity. Though it was done in the ’90s, an interactive PBS timeline of...
View ArticleMany hurdles to a better voting system
“There are so many problems with the way we run elections in this country. Voter impersonation is not one of them,” says Mo Rocca in The New York Times. The biggest, Rocca says, may be that there is no...
View ArticleChoices for the state Senate
Our opinion: Who controls the state Senate — an utterly dysfunctional body when briefly under Democratic control, yet hardly a representative or progressive one under Republicans — is at stake in the...
View ArticleVoting should not be this hard
Our opinion: A “voting season,” rather than a single Election Day, would be a vast improvement for New York. For some people, there’s a certain patriotic thrill to Election Day — the ritual of going to...
View ArticleDemocrats win by harnessing the data
The Democrats are winning elections because they’ve embraced new tools for analyzing and influencing “the electorate as a collection of individuals rather than merely demographic and geographic...
View ArticleGOP wants more rural voting clout
A faction of the GOP would like to change the electoral system by having states award electoral votes based on who wins congressional districts, says David Graham in The Atlantic. While the proposal...
View ArticleA chance for real change
Our opinion: Washington has a prime opportunity in the IRS and AP controversies to tackle concerns shared on the right, left, and center. Spying on journalists? Targeting by the Internal Revenue...
View ArticleGermans vote for status quo
Angela Merkel’s re-election demonstrates Germans are content with their hardworking, humble and pragmatic chancellor, whose leadership has kept Germany prosperous despite the euro crisis, says Roger...
View ArticleIt’s only fair, Democrats
Our opinion: When the line between politics and lobbying is blurred, why not err on the side of clarity? When the state Democratic committee launches a glowing ad campaign about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s...
View ArticleLong story short
Our opinions: We weigh in briefly on unfair election rules, the SUNY Research Foundation’s continuing lack of understanding about Freedom of Information, and a nice development for Thacher Park....
View ArticleA single primary in June
Our opinion: One primary in June in New York makes more financial sense, and it’s better for democracy. So why do Senate Republicans resist? Politicians have long known the advantages of manipulating...
View ArticleThe governor’s meddling
Our opinion: The supposed independence of a new enforcement counsel at the state Board of Elections is compromised by her communications with the Cuomo administration. Gov. Andrew Cuomo may think he...
View ArticleIt’s a start, Albany County
Our opinion: County leaders back off a plan to postpone elections next year. Now, how about letting citizens have a say in their government? Give credit where it’s due: Democrats in the Albany County...
View ArticleNew reform plan needed to counter super PACS
The recent scandal involving former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has re-energized election reformers, some still audibly grumbling over ethics tradeoffs Gov. Andrew Cuomo made last year. The main...
View ArticleClose this loophole – today
The New York state Board of Elections has an opportunity to show who they work for and what they stand for: Is it citizens and fair elections, or political kingmakers and a system that allows them to...
View ArticleBoard of Elections Shame
Our opinion: The state Board of Elections perpetuates a blatant loophole in campaign finance rules. A board that served the public, not political masters, would rein in this abuse. We think of...
View ArticleVote on loophole clear corruption
Your editorial “Board of Elections shame,” April 19, on the LLC loophole vote by the state Board of Elections hit the nail squarely on the head: It was a vote to facilitate corruption. By allowing...
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