Several ballot measures in states this year illustrate the ongoing split personality of American election reform, where states look to either impede or assist people’s ability to influence government with their vote. Ballots in at least five states -- Connecticut, Montana, Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas -- focus on some kind of election reform. Most states have made voting harder in the past decade by enacting voter ID laws, ostensibly to guard against voter impersonation, a problem that the public believes to be more widespread than the evidence suggests. For example, a five-year crackdown by the Justice Department under President George W. Bush resulted in only 86 people being found guilty of voter fraud across all 50 states, according to a 2007 investigation by The New York Times.
Source: 5 States Put Voting Reform to the Voters
