Secret Ballot Watch

Meet Senator Tom Harkin, secret-ballot supporter … sometimes.

The Hill quoted the Iowa Democrat as saying that Senate committee chairmen should be elected every two years by secret ballot – a method the Employee Free Choice Act, which Harkin has co-sponsored, tosses aside for workers during union organization drives.

The congressional newspaper reported Wednesday on Harkin’s selective support here:   

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“In an apparent warning to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), some liberal Democrats have suggested a secret-ballot vote every two years on whether or not to strip committee chairmen of their gavels.

“Baucus, who is more conservative than most of the Democratic Conference, has frustrated many of his liberal colleagues by negotiating for weeks with Republicans over healthcare reform without producing a bill or even much detail about the policies he is considering.

“‘Every two years the caucus could have a secret ballot on whether a chairman should continue, yes or no,’ said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. ‘If the ‘no’s win, [the chairman’s] out.

“‘I’ve heard it talked about before,’ he added.”

Bolton, “Dems warn Baucus with gavel threat,” The Hill, 07.29.09 

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When it comes to the secret ballot, Harkin is something of an expert.

Indeed, most of Harkin’s career has been dependent on Americans’ ability to vote privately: Harkin was first elected to the House in 1974, when he was a thirty-something lawyer. He served there until 1984, when he was elected to the Senate. He was re-elected in 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008 – each time by secret ballot.

Clearly, the secret ballot has been good to Harkin and, presumably, the people of Iowa. Why can’t he ensure that workers – including those from the Hawkeye State – are allowed to exercise that right as well?

This is not the first time a member of Congress has extolled the virtues of the secret ballot … for Congress. Members of Congress who jealously guard their right to the secret ballot might want to rethink their support for a bill that would take that same right away from those they have been elected to represent.

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