Electoral Reform

This series grew out of an initial show on the 2004 elections in Ohio. That hour made us realize how little we really knew about the nitty-gritty details of how our democracy works — or doesn’t. With the 2006 midterm elections looming, it seemed a good time to start exploring.

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Steal This Election, 6/20/06

The Ohio vote in 2004. There were problems galore in the state that tipped the presidential election: long polling lines, eligibility challenges, and the return of the hanging chad. But who’s to say an election was stolen? Two years later, more people are asking.

America’s Dirty Elections, 6/21/06

It was Florida in 2000, and Ohio in ’04. Aren’t we waiting for an election-day meltdown in 06 or 08 in the machinery of our proudest export: democracy. And yet there are ways to get our own electoral house in order.

Of Hand Counts and Voting Machines, 7/10/06

The electronic voting riddle: with politicized companies making the machines, and computer scientists hacking them, could we be looking at the cure for the hanging chad or the beginning of the end of free, fair and accountable elections?

Redistricting: The Art and Science of Gerrymandering, 9/5/06

Redistricting, or the art and science of gerrymandering. In our continuing series on America’s electoral process: how democratic are political districts, and do they make it impossible to find the political will for reform?

Voter Fraud: Real Menace or Rove Meme?, 4/12/07

Fears of voter fraud have led to the firings of federal prosecutors and voter ID laws. But a recently released report tells a different story: What if the real story about voter fraud is that it doesn’t exist?