Welcome to the Business Journal Archives
Search for articles below, or continue to the all new BusinessJournalDaily.com now.
Search
Journal Opinion
A Right Not to be DeniedWhen vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. Article I, Section 2 of the ConstitutionThe above passage lacks the phrase "unless it would be too expensive, inconvenient or confusing," the lame excuses served up two years ago when Gov. Bob Taft refused to call a special election in the wake of James A. Traficant Jr.'s expulsion from Congress.Once Traficant was convicted in April 2002 in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, Taft had every reason to expect Traficant's expulsion or resignation was both close at hand and inevitable, that he needed to order a special election. Had the expelled representative been from heavily Republican Hamilton County, would the governor have been so cavalier? Taft, joined by other state and Mahoning Valley officials, argued that the election would cost Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties some $800,000, confuse voters because of redistricting following the 2000 census, and provide the Mahoning Valley with its own representative, nearly certain to be a Democrat, only a few weeks.In finding for the voters of the Mahoning Valley (and the American Civil Liberties Union who filed the suit), the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Constitution requires a special election be held when a lengthy vacancy occurs between Congressional elections. At this late date, it may all seem academic. No special election can be held. What the governor and his apologists in the Valley wanted voters to forget is that representative government rules and without full representation, voters' rights are minimized (at best) or taken away.Democracy is often inconvenient and expensive, and it can be confusing, especially to those who won't become informed. None of that, however, the court ruled, is sufficient reason to deny the U.S. citizens living in the Mahoning Valley their right to their own representative in the U.S. House. If Taft were so concerned about the expense to the three counties' boards of election, he could have begun exploring a state role after Traficant was convicted. The state as a whole suffered from having one fewer representative in its delegation. Would the General Assembly have assumed or shared the expense? We'll never know. As Taft sought re-election, neither he nor the Republican-controlled legislature wanted to do anything that drew more attention to the state's horrid finances. As to voters being easily confused, he may have a point. He was handily re-elected despite his record and refusal to spend his political capital on anything divisive -- such as the Legislature's refusal to obey the state Supreme Court on financing public education.The voters of the old 17th District paid the price. Between Traficant spending most of his waking hours preparing for trial and not appearing in Washington following his conviction, plus the formal vacancy after his expulsion, the Valley was left without a voice in Congress."