The University Honors College presented David Broder, syndicated columnist for The New York… The University Honors College presented David Broder, syndicated columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post, as part of its American Experience Lecture Series in Benedum Hall last night.

Broder’s lecture, “Democracy Derailed,” which is also the title of his latest book, focused on what he believes is the breakdown of the American electoral system.

According to Broder, one of the major problems with the American voting system is that the entire election system is seriously underfunded. This lack of funds stretches far beyond being able to purchase new machinery that would make the physical process of voting more uniform. It also includes being able to pay people to be on the front lines of the voting system to help instruct voters on how the voting booth works and how to read their ballots. According to Broder, there is currently not enough money or time to help train those who do this work.

The majority of Broder’s hour-and-a-half lecture focused putting initiatives on ballots, something that is common in California and Oregon. An initiative is an issue that would normally be brought up in the state senate and passed by representatives. While this may seem as though it is a more direct form of democracy because voters rather than politicians make the decisions that affect their local community, Broder said he believes initiatives can be deceiving.

“People who are able to garner any initiative support are those who are either independently wealthy or businesses,” he said.

Broder said that many times the initiative is passed by a narrow margin, and that multiple issues are crammed into one initiative. While voters may believe they are voting on a single subject, such as providing more tax money for the improvement of roads, the initiative may also include the improvement of sidewalks and the purchasing of new equipment. According to Broder, multiple issues on an initiative make it difficult to determine the actual desires of the voters.

Broder also said that initiatives also affect ethnic and racial minorities, using the end of bilingual education in California as an example. He also said geographical minorities are ignored, because the majority of votes come from urban areas where those who make the decision to pass the initiative are not aware of what effect the initiative will have on a rural economy.

While Broder expressed concern about including initiatives on the ballot, he said that “any effort to remove the initiative process is ridiculous, and any effort to modify it would be difficult.”

“Think twice before you vote to bring [initiatives] to your state or county as a whole,” he said.