Funny elections?

By Groff Schroeder

Most Americans agree that free and fair elections are a crucial foundation of our democratic republic, its Constitution, its People, and our freedoms. Yet few would disagree with this statement from the recent election campaign, “There is something funny about the elections, folks.”

In 1867, President Lincoln signed America's first campaign finance regulation, making it illegal for government officers and employees to solicit donations from Naval Yard workers. In 1905, President Roosevelt sought publicly financed campaigns and to ban corporate donations. In 1924, women won the right to vote. Campaign finance laws were expanded in 1925 – but not enforced.

In 1952, a disgruntled supporter exposed Vice Presidential candidate Senator Richard Nixon's campaign “fund,” replenished by political backers to defray his expenses. The fund was legal, but it damaged Nixon's “public integrity” campaign by creating the appearance of and opportunity for bribery. Instead of proposing landmark public integrity legislation, Nixon responded with the infamous televised “Checkers” speech, saving his career and quashing investigations into his finances. The speech normalized “campaign donations,” and Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address warned Americans to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence” “in the councils of government.”

Between 1956 and 1968, campaign spending doubled, reaching $300 million. Candidates converted unspent funds to personal use. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act protected minorities right to vote for the first time. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 limited contributions, required disclosure, and initiated public financing.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon was caught illegally exchanging millions of dollars of secret cash for political favors - and exploiting his Presidential powers, government assets, and taxpayer funds to wiretap the opposing political party's Watergate Hotel headquarters. Nixon suggested the President of the United States is above the rule of law - before resigning to evade impeachment. In response, Congress created the Federal Election Commission in 1974 to police election law, launching a new era of campaign law non-enforcement, which continues today through under funding, under staffing, and under utilization.

Then elections really got “funny.” The bizarre 1976 Buckley v. Valeo Supreme Court Decision made campaign donations, (neither free nor speech), Constitutionally protected “free speech.” The 2012 Citizen's United vs FEC Decision overturned minor reforms and rejected any disclosure, limit, or transparency in political spending. Between 1978 and 2016, election campaign spending skyrocketed from $153 million to $1.8 billion dollars. The 2013 Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court Decision effectively repealed the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Many state legislatures promptly passed regulations making minority voting more difficult. Since 2014, “unscrupulous gerrymandering” has guaranteed control of the House of Representatives and many state legislatures to the incumbent party - no matter how We the People vote.

If countless Americans lost their right or ability to vote between February 2013 and November 2016, are America's elections free? If it is impossible for one party to lose a federal or state legislative election, are America's elections fair?

It appears that to fulfill his oft-spoken promise to “drain the swamp” the President-elect will need to restore the American People's right to vote freely, reverse unfair redistricting practices, and eliminate the “campaign donations” that so obviously and so thoroughly taint elections and government in the United States.

Published in the Colorado Springs Independent on December 7, 2016 with the quote below.

“In a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.” Matt Taibbi