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Don't Just Count; Supervise The Ballot

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

There's a brouhaha brewing regarding the move to elect a mayor for Hillsborough County.

The mayor matter, scheduled for thumbs up or thumbs down this fall, is under fire from petitioners who claim elections supervisor Buddy Johnson failed to meet certain standards when placing the referendum on November's ballot.

The clarity of the ballot language is being questioned, as is the process used to certify signatures gathered to petition Johnson's office.

Questions should not be placed in front of voters, the lawsuit intimates, unless the ramifications of the vote are made crystal clear.

I often play the role of confused voter myself, so I can understand the concern. I'm even tempted to suspect that the people who put referendum issues on the ballot intentionally keep the language fuzzy.

Winston Churchill, in one of my favorite quotes, made the following observation: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

The legendary English politician doubtless would point out our responsibility to do more homework before we go to the polls. On one level I'd agree with him, but I also know that I am better informed than many. The last thing we need to do in these cynical political times is to disenfranchise one more American.

We are dangerously close to becoming a nation divided between those who have a voice and those who do not. I never hesitate to criticize disinterested citizens who walk away from their franchise. But the time may have come for Americans who do vote to pay more attention to the reasons so many people opt out, rather than simply castigating those who refuse to play in our game.

This is where our elections supervisor has the opportunity and the responsibility to demonstrate leadership vis-À-vis his commission to guard democracy.

If the forces for and against a county mayor really do want the rest of us to understand our vote, they should have agreed on clear wording by now. It's also incumbent on Johnson's office to make sure both sides of a ballot initiative sign off on how the proposition will read.

Another Churchill quote demonstrates exactly why we need to keep this discussion both ongoing and public: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."

The right thing also tends to come around more quickly in front of a large audience.

Columnist Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul @gmail.com.

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