by Garrison Frost

I'm not big on touting candidates for statewide office, but I'll make an exception in the case of State Senator Debra Bowen, who is running for California Secretary of State. While there are all sorts of important issues for voters to consider this election season, we are of the opinion that one of the most important is the decay of our electoral system. For the last several elections, voters have been far too tolerant about election discrepancies that have resulted in the disenfranchisement of thousands, if not millions, of voters nationwide.

Imagine if California, with its huge number of electoral votes, were someday to be a battleground state. Presidential candidates would flock here early in the primaries and throughout the general election. Then imagine if, on election day, some of the crap that recently took place in Florida and Ohio, happened here. Ballots lost. Lines of three hours or more to vote. Controversies over whether votes for one candidate were tabulated for another candidate on certain electronic voting machines.

We don't want that happening here in California. And so it's time to take the proper running of our elections seriously. In this light, we came up with these 10 reasons to vote for Debra Bowen. Some are a bit daffy, and they are in no particular order of importance:

• Bowen is from Southern California. Her opponent isn't.
• The South Bay has been voting for Bowen for years. She was our representative in the Assembly and the State Senate. Why would we stop voting for her now?
• Her opponent has focused on keeping those who aren't qualified from the polls, although no one has proven that this is a tremendous problem. Bowen is focused on making sure that every qualified vote counts, an issue that has been a big problem time and time again.
• Bowen seeks to break down the bureaucratic barriers that keep qualified voters from participating in elections. Her opponent seeks to create new barriers.
• Her opponent continues to support Diebold electronic voting machines despite every indication that they are deeply flawed.
• Bowen has been a consistent leader in privacy and identity protection.
• Bowen has also been an innovator on the issue of opening campaign finances to public scrutiny.
• Of the two candidates, Bowen is far and away the most technically savvy, which will be invaluable as technology plays a more important role in voting and electoral accountability.
• Her opponent was never elected to the job. He is a Schwarzenegger appointee.
• Although he has tried to separate himself from the shenanigans of Republican secretaries of state in other states, he is actually much more partisan than he lets on. And after those aforementioned shenanigans, why should we take the chance on him?

(October 25, 2006)

© Copyright 1999-2006 The Aesthetic