But the reverse has often been true. And if the past is any indicator, both parties will happily abandon principle and switch positions to gain the upper hand. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Democrats, in effect, supported disenfranchisement of blacks in the South, Keyssar said. At the same time, Democrats tried to get rid of obstacles to voting by immigrant workers in the North, particularly the Irish, while Republicans took the exact opposite position. McCain himself resisted adding election reform amendments to the campaign finance reform bill that just passed the Senate, insisting that the finance reforms come first.
Incumbents also are nervous about election reform's unknown consequences.
That's precisely the problem, said William Hillsman, a political consultant who helped elect independent Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura. If you look at new voters, it's the biggest group of political independents that you'll ever see. If anything, most have libertarian feelings about the way things should be in the country. He is certainly concerned about networks calling election results before the polls close and men and women in the military not having their votes counted. There are a number of issues he thinks should be addressed.