“Where do Americans go to cast their vote?” That’s a question that William Drenttel and Jessica Helf posed to citizen journalists during the 2006 midterm elections. The photographers were asked to shoot polling places across America, and now their work is featured in the current edition of the Aperture Foundation’s magazine. I was sent a copy by friend of Why Tuesday? and Aperture Foundation publicist Christina Caputo. You can buy a copy online and lean more about the Aperture Foundation here.

The project has relaunched for the 2008 election, this time with the New York Times.

Aperture was founded in 1952 by photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Minor White, historian Beaumont Newhall, and writer/curator Nancy Newhall. The group is a not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to advancing fine photography.

Photo via Aperture.

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Posted in Election Reform, Election 2006, Election 2008, Friends of WT? | Comments Off

Are you a Boulder (88.5 FM) or Denver (1390 AM) resident? I’ll be on KGNU’s Metro with Maeve Conran, Today at 3:00PM your time. Live elsewhere? Stream it live here. Rob Ritchie of FairVote is her headline guest.

Posted in Election Reform, Colorado, Election 2006, WT? in the news | Comments Off

It was a busy week for us behind the scenes at Why Tuesday?, and in the world of election reform. What is election reform exactly? And who is the guy in the photo? Get the answers, and much more election reform news, by clicking below. Photo by Cheryl Senter for the New York Times.

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Posted in New Hampshire, Indiana, Michigan, Colorado, Arkansas, Election Reform, West Virginia, Election Day registration, Election 2006, Audits, Roundups, Existing laws, Legislation, Iowa, Election 2008, Election administration, Electronic voting | Comments Off

We’re still alive here. Belated, but here; we just got this in from some engaged citizens who took their cameras out on Election Day 2006. Working two different neighborhoods in Manhattan- one of its wealthiest, and one of its least financially prosperous- the two teams get an informative and honest impression of the different pressures and pleasures of voting for the residents of each area. Not everything people say is what you’d expect, but the takeaway is clear: there are a LOT of people- of all demographics- for whom single-day voting (which is how we still roll in NY, unfortunately) is inconvenient, and if you have other demands in your life and lack the means to easily deal with them (i.e., affording a babysitter is difficult, or your work schedule is inflexible) those challenges become all the more difficult to surmount.

Big thanks to Penny Abeywardena, Valentina Ramia, Cyrus Dugger, Sarah Solon, and Emily Carmichael for taking to the streets to get this footage. And also to Cary McClelland for the very generous donation of the editing equipment and services required to bring the mini-doc to completion.

Posted in Election Reform, Election 2006 | Comments Off

The dust is settling, and all speculation is about the impact of this year’s election on national and foreign policy. If you’re reading this blog you’ve probably read a lot about this year’s elections already: about your own local or state contests and the national issues that galvanized the voter base.

Without being unduly negative, it seems like a good idea to attach some numbers to the adjectival discussion of this momentous midterm. The most straightforward one is this: according to the non-partisan Center for the Study of the American Electorate (CSAE), national turnout was around 83 million this year, or 40.4% of the population. There are some interesting details: despite strong/record turnout in states like Virginia and Tennessee, not all states with hot races saw turnout bumps- Maryland, Minnesota, and Florida all reported drop-offs, despite each having competitive races. Click here to read the full report.

It’s also interesting to see what effect Montana’s experiment with EDR had. Despite causing some delays, it seems to have run very smoothly. Did it increase turnout? A look at the CSAE’s numbers casts some doubt. Montana’s turnout in 2002 (the last mid-term election) was 48.02%, compared to 55.58% in this year’s election. That’s a healthy jump of 7.56%, compared to a 0.7% increase nationally. BUT, if we compare Montana to seven other states with races that were either tight or widely publicized (Connecticut, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia), we see that they on average enjoyed a 6.55% increase in participation. Amongst that pack, then, it’s not clear that EDR had a dramatic effect.

Which isn’t to say that it’s not a good idea: even a small impact is good, so long as the integrity of the process isn’t compromised, as is any measure that makes voting more convenient for those who fulfill their civic responsibility.

What seems most important to us is to remember- amidst all the comparative values- that the numbers we’re dealing with are still very low. A look at the CSAE’s report shows that, even in states celebrating record turnout, we’re dealing with participation in the low 40- and 50-percent range. Even if one takes the higher numbers offered by political campaigns and various state offices you’re still in the same ballpark.

Bottom line: there’s still work to do. And there’s a big election in a couple of years. So we’re gonna keep on asking why, and trying to figure out how to get as many citizens into the voting booths as possible.

Posted in Maryland, Minnesota, Election Reform, Tennessee, Virginia, Election 2006, Election Day registration, Florida | 1 Comment »

Props to the Road Team for blagging their way into what looks like a real press conference. As we fall off to sleep watching CNN/Fox/what have you, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stands with his family on a verdant lawn. The Gubernator doesn’t think Election Day is the issue- he thinks a lack of excitement about politics is. A smooth and easy clip to mark the passing of another Election Tuesday…

ps If you can’t hear it, the Governor’s bon mot upon hearing Barnett’s follow-up question is, “Yes, we are moving into the weekend; joy joy!”

Posted in Election 2006, Election Reform, Get Out The Why?, California, National Holiday, Weekend voting | Comments Off

We’re encouraging people around the country to ask their politicians a seemingly trivial question.

We’re devoting a website to the discussion of the clips we get.

Why are we doing this?

The answer is that we believe a conversation about structural and procedural election reforms, reforms designed to get more Americans into the voting booths, is one of our country’s most pressing needs. Why Tuesday and GOTW are not just about asking one question; what we mean by “why Tuesday” is, “Why are we doing things this way? Why aren’t we questioning how we run elections if they aren’t working? How can we be doing better?”

There is going to be a dramatic election today. Much will be written about what the outcome means for policy and politics over the next two years. There will be some contested elections- machines that didn’t work, polling stations so woefully under-staffed or -machined that voters are unjustly disenfranchised by clunky realities- and a good (perhaps a great) deal will be written about that. And then there will be turnout. There may be a “spike” in participation tomorrow, which for a midterm election means clearing forty-two or forty-three percent. There will be some written about this, and some brief discussion of the reasons behind our decline in participation since World War II. And then, everyone will get on with wondering who’s going to run in 2008.

This is fine, if you don’t believe our voter participation levels are a grave problem. But we think they are. We know many people and organizations agree, and we’re trying to pitch in and draw attention to the issue in our own way. The question it comes down to is simple: how can we change the procedures of voting- when we vote, how we vote- to do the best we can for the greatest number of Americans?

More after the break…
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Posted in Election Reform, Election 2006, General | Comments Off

Jacob and Barnett were having all the fun, so I decided to grab my friend Jen and see if we couldn’t get some clips ourselves. We got into a DCCC fundraiser in Midtown Manhattan, and had the chance to talk to two Congressmen and a Senator- none of whom knew the answer!- but each of whom had something interesting to say on the topic.

We lost audio (and would’ve lost video too, if Jen hadn’t guerrilla-like remembered she could record image on her Treo), but check the clip to hear what Congressman Nadler said- it might be the wittiest response we’ve gotten so far.

Special thanks also to Sasha Gordon for her invaluable editing assistance.

Posted in Election Reform, New York, Election 2006, Get Out The Why? | Comments Off

Road Team: At an event touting Indiana’s newest biodiesel fueling station, we had a chance to catch up with Senator Richard Lugar. Senator Lugar has held his office for thirty years, and serves as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In other words, he knows his stuff. But again, even though he’d clearly given thought to the idea of making Election Day a holiday, he didn’t know why we vote on Tuesdays- although he seemed glad when Jake could fill him in.

Posted in Election Reform, Indiana, Election 2006, Get Out The Why?, National Holiday | Comments Off

Another installment from the GOTW Road Team. Congressman Tim Ryan was generous enough to give us a few minutes of time; the Congressman’s had a long career in public service, and has been an up-and-coming Member of the House since 2003. He thinks that a national holiday might be the way to go, and wants to preserve the collective ritual of everyone voting together. When we asked him the question, he seemed to have some idea- check out the clip for his answer.

We don’t generally travel by horse and buggy (or wagon, or carriage) anymore, of course. Most of us travel with 160 horses under the hoods of our cars, or by public transport. Makes us wonder: does the reasoning behind Tuesday voting still hold up?

The search continues…

Posted in Election Reform, Election 2006, Get Out The Why?, Ohio | Comments Off