Editor,
In response to Colin Donoghue's column in Tuesday's Daily Lobo, "Voting still a murky affair," Donoghue has adequately pointed out many of the symptoms we are regularly faced with in our sick electoral system.
In fact, it is fairly indisputable that the United States has one of the worst records in the world among countries that practice open elections as far as our ability to count votes correctly and the extent of our restrictions on who we let vote.
There are many different Band-Aids that can be used to help fix the ailments and difficulties we experience with practicing democracy in this country, but one that seems more effective than other remedies is to implement Election Day registration. This wonderful, cheap and simple-to-implement tool has been in place in six states for up to 25 years with wonderful success. It allows anyone to walk up on Election Day, register and vote. It reduces inaccuracies in voter rolls, requires you to be who you say you are, increases voter participation, minimizes the need for provisional ballots and eliminates the need for third-party registration groups.
And for all you students who habitually wonder how to register to vote the week before an election - between hangovers - you'd have no excuse now. It may not be the panacea we are looking for in regard to re-establishing a truly representative democracy in America, but maybe it's the booster-shot needle in the ass that will jump-start us into participating in the process again. Ask our state legislators to back Election Day registration now, before our prognosis for recovery dims even further.
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Desi Brown
UNM student
