Editor: It’s time to put some meat on the over politicized "transparency bone."
Transparency is one of the most significant benefits of having access to voting records. Citizens can hold their elected officials accountable for their actions and make informed decisions about whether to re-elect them. This transparency also promotes trust in government, as citizens can see that their representatives are acting in the public interest.
Additionally, voting records provide valuable insight into politicians' beliefs and priorities. By examining how they vote on certain issues, citizens can determine whether they align with their own values and priorities. This information is particularly important during elections, where voters can use voting records to make informed decisions about which candidates to support.
Access to voting records also promotes government accountability by making it more difficult for elected officials to deny responsibility for their actions or hide from their voting records. This accountability ensures that officials act in the best interests of their constituents, rather than corporate or other special interests.
Regrettably, the present approach to accessing the voting records of local politicians and School Board members through meeting minutes, agendas, and videos is not only time-consuming and cumbersome but also lacks equity. This system creates an unnecessary obstacle that disproportionately affects marginalized communities and individuals who may not have the resources or time to navigate this complicated process. As a result, it is a significant barrier to civic engagement and access to public information, which is a fundamental right of all citizens in a democratic society.
Citizens must spend countless hours sifting through documents and recordings just to find out how their elected officials have voted on critical issues that affect their lives. This system creates an unnecessary barrier to civic engagement and further disenfranchises marginalized communities and individuals who may not have the time or resources to devote to this process.
It is the responsibility of the state Delegates, Senators, Board of Supervisors and School Board officials to ensure that citizens have easy access to this critical information. They must provide a more accessible and transparent system for accessing voting records. Anything less is a failure of their duty to serve their constituents, regardless of political affiliation.
Transparency in voting records is essential for holding elected officials accountable, promoting government accountability, civic engagement, and a healthy democracy. Access to voting records at the local level is just as critical as access at the state and national level. The current system of accessing local voting records is unacceptable and needs to be changed to provide citizens with easy access to this critical information. Local officials must step up and provide a more accessible and transparent system for accessing voting records.
Scott Mineo, Ashburn
(11) comments
Are we willing to pay quite a bit more in taxes so that meetings and comments are easily searchable? If video is publicly available and meetings are open then watch or go. Too often quotes/votes are taken entirely out of context and a searchable database would be nice
Agree totally with Mr. Mineo's position. The difficulty we have in holding our elected officials accountable is the lack of easy access to voting records. While it is possible to ferret out this information, most of our citizens don't have the time or knowledge of where to access this information. Why anyone would be against shining light of the voting records of our officials is mind boggling, unless they fear that the truth would damage their agenda.
One recent example of representatives of sanctimoniously voting against a common sense law in expectation of a veto will now have to defend their position that the Districts Criminal Code revision significantly reducing sentences and mandatory minimums. Wexton, Spanberger, Connolly and Beyer were all left with political egg on their faces.
I agree with the letter and find it telling—but not surprising—that the single commenter who seems to celebrate leftist advances made possible by a lack of transparency find the prospect of increased transparency to be unappealing. Why would anyone object to transparency unless they benefitted from things being done in relative darkness?
This said, I also agree with paulm's objection to the use of the term "equity." I discern that Mineo included it on purpose to make a good point and to show up the hypocrisy of those who have by now spoiled that word by misusing it, but in these days when "equity" is synonymous with rejection of basic fairness and embrace of injustice, it is probably best to avoid it by using a synonym.
I join the author in endorsing legislation to require a clear and easy way for voters to reference their representatives' voting records ... at least for governments of a certain size as Ken Reid notes.
This is one of the best letters I have ever read in my life. It is so true. As local government has gotten more complicated and with governing bodies having longer agendas, there really needs to be a system whereby the city/town/county clerk has to keep a matrix of agenda items and all votes so the public and news media can see how officials voted at a glance without poring through PDFs of minutes or scanning videos. And the same should apply to school boards and the subcommittees of governing bodies -- like the Finance and Land Use Committees of the Loudoun Board or other supervisor boards. Richmond at least has a bill tracking system and committee votes and floor votes are posted regularly. Not so with local and county governing bodies in Virginia. I suggest Mr. Mineo and other citizens approach their delegates and senators to seek legislation in next year's GA Session to make this mandatory, at least for counties/cities and towns over a certain population threshold. This could be a burden on municipalities and school boards without a full time clerk . But just keeping a spreadsheet of votes and attendance would be great for transparency and open government.
Have to agree but the record of voting only covers how they responded to an agenda put together by them after being elected. For me, part of accountability is the ability to compare what the priorities committed to in advance of being elected and their performance after being elected. Can you help me find the list of problems these boards publicly committed to resolve and the reports showing their coordinated progress to solve them? Did we really pay $2 plus billion in tax dollars each year to get road names changed, a few statues removed, new single use bathrooms in LCPS schools and a lot more insignificant jobs added to the payrolls? One clear example is the expansion of Route 15 north of Leesburg which was approved and budgeted years ago and not one inch of new blacktop has been placed yet! :-) VOTE!
Pio signs up for a state-run primary against the overwhelming votes of the LCRC voters and says, oops! He was caught and needs to resign on this one-year anniversary of the biggest election for chair mistake the republican party ever made.
Scott Mineo's essay is full of empty platitudes. He might as well just wave a flag & declare his support for "Mom, apple pie & the American way of life." What's he kvetching about? I don't see any grand conspiracy to hide votes (either votes from the electorate or public officials). It's time to get over these conspiracy theories, Mr. Mineo. We have a duly elected President & Loudoun Blue. Hooray for that!
What conspiracy theory would that be timsmith? Mr. Mineo points out that there is no accessible record of how local elected officials vote on key issues that impact our well-being in Loudoun. It takes a massive amount of sifting through video records and minutes from past BoS or LCSB meetings to find this information, which should be publicly posted and easily accessible.
This isn't a conspiracy theory, it is a fact.
His letter was not about presidential elections, so not sure what you are even talking about.
So timsmith, mom, apple pie and the American way of life are something to oppose in your opinion? Are you saying the quite part out loud? Quiet part being that your leftwing ideology hates our country and seeks to destroy all traditional and wholesome values.
I agree that public records need to be more accessible but enough with the “equity” nonsense.
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