"Imagine a country where the right to vote is not guaranteed by the Constitution, where the candidate with the most votes loses, and where paperwork requirements and bureaucratic bungling disenfranchise millions. You're living in it. If the consequences weren't so serious, it would be funny. An eye-opening, fact-filled companion to the forthcoming PBS documentary starring political satirist and commentator Mo Rocca, Electoral Dysfunction illuminates a broad array of issues, including the Founding Fathers' decision to omit the right to vote from the Constitution-and the legal system's patchwork response to this omission; the battle over voter ID, voter impersonation, and voter fraud; the foul-ups that plague Election Day, from ballot design to contested recounts; the role of partisan officials in running elections; and the anti-democratic origins and impact of the Electoral College. The book concludes with a prescription for a healthy voting system by Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote. Published in the run-up to the 2012 election, Electoral Dysfunction is for readers across the political spectrum who want their votes to count. "-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-247) and index.

Foreword / by Mo Rocca Introduction In search of the right to vote: do Americans really have the right to vote? The epic battle for the vote: who gets to vote in America and the quest for universal suffrage To vote or not to vote: who votes and why

The mystic agency of the Electoral College: the bewildering way America elects its presidents A ramshackle house: the convoluted and misunderstood election system The games we play: the partisan fight over voting Afterword / by Heather Smith.