Making Voting Easy, Efficient and Fair (Part 2)

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Another drive is under way to reformthe nation’s election system -- this one led by a new bipartisancommission. Expectations, as usual, are low. Even beforePresident Barack Obama named the members of the PresidentialCommission on Election Administration in May, the defeatistdrumbeat had begun. Commissions are ineffective; there is toomuch partisan rancor to get anything done; registration snafusand long lines at polls can’t be solved.

Such cynicism is easy to understand. Election reform is anissue on which there is what might be called “gridlock-plus.” Inaddition to the usual difficulty in getting bipartisan agreementin Washington, there is the heightened partisanship that bothparties bring to fights over election rules. When it comes tovoting, each side digs in its heels against proposals that mightreduce its vote or loosen its grip on power.