Secret ballot. Open records
May 15th, 2007 by JamieB
Repeat after me: Secret ballot . . . open records.
Please try to keep that straight when you vote today. And please vote today!
Of the twin pillars of American democracy, one – the secret ballot – enables us to vote without fear. The other – the open record – allows us to keep tabs on what those for whom we fearlessly voted are doing. Without both pillars, the building would fall down.
The secret ballot transformed representative government by allowing each of us to choose our representatives in private. As a result, the biggest, most brutal or most heavily armed candidate does not always win. You don’t need to look far around the world to see how rare and refreshing that is.
But secrecy should end at the ballot box. It should not extend to the business of government itself. We need them both – secret ballots and open records.
There is growing evidence that open records and government transparency are important to voters and that candidates are getting the message. Yesterday, for example, I got an email flyer from a candidate for county commissioner. One of her three points – as you know, political messages are supposed to have three, and only three, components – was a pledge to run a government that was open and transparent. All of a sudden, open records is right up there with filling pot holes, providing good jobs and protecting open space, with tax cuts and better schools.
On this site, we are pushing for a change in state law – a change that will, among other things, clearly define public records as belonging to the people, not the government.
But while the law we seek to change is a state law, most people seek pubic records at the county and local levels. In Pennsylvania, the rules regarding access to those records are all over the place. We need the clarity and consistency that only state law can bring, but we also need local and county leaders who are committed to open and transparent government.
To a lot of people, a primary election in an off year is not a big deal – a perception that is reflected in our ridiculously low voter turnout. But just as every vote counts, so every election counts, and today’s is no exception. So please go to the polls – and vote for candidates who support open and transparent government.
Our right to know is the backbone of our constitutional form of government. In Pennsylvania, the open records law that guarantees that right is pitiful. We need to change it. One place to do that is at the polls. And the best time to start is today.