Objection to Counting of Ohio Electoral Votes

OBJECTION TO COUNTING OF OHIO ELECTORAL VOTES -- (Senate - January 06, 2005)

Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, this is obviously a difficult debate for many reasons. I commend the Senator from California for joining with members of the House, most particularly Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, in raising the objection, because it does permit us to air some of these issues--something I believe is necessary for the smooth functioning of our democracy and the integrity of the most precious right of any citizen, namely, the right to vote.

As we look at our election system, I think it is fair to say there are many legitimate questions about its accuracy and about its integrity, and they are not confined to the State of Ohio. They are ones that have arisen throughout our country and certainly because of the election of 2000 have been given high relief in the last 4 years. Then questions were raised additionally with respect to this election which deepened the concern of many people about whether we can assure the continuity of our democratic process by ensuring the consent of the governed and the acceptance of the results of elections.

Several weeks ago, we stood in great admiration as a nation behind the people of Ukraine as they took to the streets to demand they be given the right to an election where every vote was counted.

In a few weeks, we are going to see an election in Iraq. We know there are people literally dying in Iraq for the right to cast a free vote. I am very proud of our country, that we have stood with Ukrainians, Iraqis, and others around the world, but increasingly, I worry that if this body, this Congress does not stand up on a bipartisan basis for the right to vote here at home, our moral authority will be weakened.

I take that very seriously because freedom is our most precious value, and we have for 225-plus years worked to form a more perfect Union. At first, not everybody was permitted to vote in our own country, but through constitutional changes, a civil war, and a civil rights movement, we expanded the franchise. This year we will celebrate the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, and it will be an opportunity for us to take a look at this landmark legislation and determine how we are going to move it into the 21st century so it really stands for what it was intended to do when it was first passed.

I would be standing here saying this no matter what the outcome of the election because I still think the best rule in politics is the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I worry, whether it is a Democratic or Republican administration or a local county, State, or Federal election, that we are on a slippery slope as a nation.

My colleague, Senator Boxer, and I, along with former Senator Bob Graham of Florida, introduced legislation last year to try to assure a verifiable paper audit. We did not get anywhere with that. We did not get a hearing before the Rules Committee, and I hope the distinguished chair of the Rules Committee will hold such a hearing this year because if we can buy a lottery ticket or go to a bank and make an ATM deposit, then we know we can use an electronic transfer mechanism that gives us a record. That is just one of the many issues we can deal with technologically.

Last spring, India, the largest democracy--we are the oldest democracy, so in that way we are real partners in this great enterprise of democracy--had an election. Mr. President, 550 million or so people voted, from the dot-com billionaire to the poor illiterate peasant. They all voted. They voted on electronic voting machines. They voted in a way that guaranteed the safety, security, and accuracy of their vote. They had uniform standards. They had a nonpartisan board that oversaw that election, and the result was shocking. They threw out the existing government. Nobody had predicted that. Yet they did it with integrity.

Surely, we should be setting the standards. I hope in this body, and thanks to the objection of my friend from California, this debate which started today will continue.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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