"It Should be Easy to Vote -- and Hard to Cheat": Former Congressman Lee Hamilton '52

July 4, 2016

Lee Hamilton "If we’re going to debate the electoral process as a nation, let’s keep in mind the core issue: It should be easy to vote -- and hard to cheat," writes former congressman Lee H. Hamilton in a newspaper column. The 1952 graduate of DePauw University examines the ongoing debate over election laws and whether access to the ballot box should be more open, or face greater restrictions.

"On the whole, Republicans at the state level have favored greater restrictiveness and Democrats greater ease, but you don’t have to be a partisan of one side or the other to recognize that politicians believe that a great deal is at stake," Hamilton states. "Whatever they give as their reasons for pushing a particular approach, you can be sure they are also calculating the effect of rules changes on the outcome of elections, and they’ll do all they can to tilt the rules in their favor."

Lee Hamilton 2010Aug UST A Democrat who served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and later co-chaired the 9/11 Commission and Iraq Study Group, Hamilton declares, "Casting your ballot is a fundamental constitutional right, and ensuring that every eligible voter can do so is basic to our system. Every American should be able to exercise his or her right to vote without feeling cowed -- which is why I worry that efforts to limit voting will have a pernicious effect on our system of representative government."

Access the complete essay at the website of the Omaha World-Herald.

Hamilton is a distinguished scholar in the Indiana University School of Global and International Studies and a professor of practice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

A history major and basketball standout at DePauw, Hamilton received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama last year. He was one of five individuals inducted last summer into the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), and has also received the Churchill Award for Statesmanship, the Eisenhower Medal for exceptional leadership, the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute Freedom From Fear Award, among many other honors. He's also a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and DePauw's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Lee Hamilton NC Mar2011 Congressman Hamilton has been a frequent visitor to DePauw over the years and was on campus March 3 to discuss the issues facing American and the world. He delivered an Ubben Lecture on March 15, 2011 and his alma mater's commencement addresses in 1971 and 1998.