密歇根新闻广播 密歇根在帮助人们参与民主方面退步了

 

Last week I discussed a new bill that would make it easier for citizens to get absentee ballots² in Michigan, a bill sponsored by a Republican state representative, Lisa Posthumus Lyons, and enthusiastically supported by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson.

She's also a conservative Republican and Michigan's chief elections official. The bill is scarcely radical³; it would merely allow any voter who wants an absentee ballot¹ to get one. Two-thirds of the states already allow what is called "no-excuse" absentee voting.

In fact, all those states also allow early voting, meaning that on certain days before the election, the polls are open to allow people to vote who already have made up their minds.

This both encourages turnout and reduces lines on Election Day.

Three states – Colorado, Washington and Oregon – require everyone to vote absentee. As it now stands, Michigan is definitely backward when it comes to helping⁴ citizens participate in democracy.

But unfortunately, Republican leaders in the Legislature have exceeded my worst expectations. Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof made it very clear he has no interest in doing anything to help more people vote.

"They should be responsible enough to make sure they get to their own polling places," he said. "I think that's the least we can ask.” He also said he feared "fraud and abuse," although there has been no evidence of that reported in any of the thirty-six states that are more voter-friendly than Michigan.

And State Senator Dave Robertson, a former insurance salesman from Grand Blanc, was, if anything, worse. Robertson is the chair of the Elections and Government Reforms Committee, and he made it clear that he will do everything he can to sabotage⁵ Lyons' bill if it makes it to the senate.

Not only did he say he would oppose it, he said he wouldn't even allow hearings to consider this, hearings in which he and his fellow senators could hear testimony⁶ about how open absentee balloting⁷ has worked in other states.

Why does he feel this way?

Well, Robertson was at first largely incoherent, called Election Day a “focal point” he didn't want to diminish, but then gave a fantastically incredible reason. He said no-fault absentee voting would unfairly handicap candidates because they wouldn't have enough time to reach those voting early.

If he really believes that, he may be the only person in the nation who thinks our campaigns are too short. The truth is that he and Meekhof don't want to allow this because they are indeed afraid more people would vote. They know that higher voter turnout tends to favor Democratic candidates, which they are determined⁸ to prevent.

But it isn't politically acceptable to say they want to keep people from voting, so they make up hypocritical excuses instead. The fact is that no-excuse absentee voting is highly unlikely to change very much, especially in our heavily gerrymandered legislature.

And it is encouraging that two principled Republican women have had the integrity to come out in favor of doing what is right and helping more people vote.

It would be nice if they could be supported by a little citizen outrage⁹ against the men who want to prevent more people from participating in democracy.

Jack¹⁰ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's political analyst¹¹. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

6 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

7 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。