Democracy means that you have the right to vote without intimidation and undue burdens.

The Election Assistance Commission represents a major, unprecedented commitment from the federal government to sustained freedom and vibrant democracy. I am humbled by the prospect of being one its charter members.

My sense was that most of the elected officials in Washington - in their heart of hearts - really believe that the system can't be too bad because it produced them.

What we say is that democracy means that you have the right to vote without intimidation and undue burdens. But if you stand in line for six hours, technically, today there is no document, no standard, no law that says that that's wrong.

It's an embarrassment that we don't have a broad enough consensus among political leaders that true reform should take place.

And when people in power can stay in power they do very little to tinker with the apparatus that put them in power.

When I was growing up, we used to play basketball in a park that was never shoveled when it snowed. The basketball rims were never fixed. And we understood then that there was a relationship between public policy and our quality of life.

I found that there is very little interest in Washington for true election reform. That neither the White House nor either house of the Congress seems to be as committed to guaranteeing democratic participation in this country as we seem to be in other countries.

My sense was that most of the elected officials in Washington - in their heart of hearts - really believe that the system can't be too bad because it produced them. And when people in power can stay in power they do very little to tinker with the apparatus that put them in power. We've seen it time after time after time.

When Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002, I was thrilled to learn that the federal government would offer resources to all states to assist them in enhancing the voting process in America.

And if we were another country being analyzed by America, we would conclude that this country is ripe for stealing elections and for fraud.

When public access to voting is impaired or when public confidence in voting is diluted, democracy suffers and our freedom is less secure.

Voting is the foundational act that breathes life into the principle of the consent of the governed.