The 2000 election put all of us on warning: Flaws in our elections open the door to partisan manipulation of election results, disenfranchisement of large portions of the population, and uncertain results—all of which undermine faith in our democracy.

Last year, the U.S. Senate Rules Committee held a hearing on the Georgia PIRG-backed Ballot Integrity Act of 2007. The bill contains several key provisions that protect voters and their votes, clarify the rules, and establish even-handed procedures to ensure elections are administered fairly.

Among the items that the Ballot Integrity Act would provide: equitable distribution of voting machines, standards for using and counting provisional ballots, standards for purging voters from the rolls, and funding for Election Day poll workers.

Last fall, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held hearings to gauge public opinion about smog standards. Those hearings and scientific evidence are compelling the EPA to consider making the “smog standard,” a measure of ground-level ozone, stronger. However, the Bush administration opposes the plan.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA must set air quality standards at levels that protect public health. In 2006, the body charged with advising the EPA on air quality standards recommended strengthening those standards. But the Bush administration-appointed leaders at the EPA are pushing to allow ozone at levels higher than recommended for public health.

Georgia PIRG staff and members, dozens of experts, and concerned citizens attended hearings in Atlanta on the proposal. Our testimony emphasized that when childhood asthma is at an all-time high, the EPA should be cutting air pollution, not allowing more of it.

After several airlines stranded passengers on runways without food, water or access to bathrooms for hours on end in the past year, the affected passengers didn’t just get mad—they organized. The Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights now includes 17,000 members of the flying public.

Georgia PIRG has joined the coalition and thanked Rep. John Lewis for co-sponsoring Georgia PIRG-backed legislation to establish an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights. So far, bills have been introduced into Congress, but the airline industry is pushing to make sure they don’t come up for a vote. The law would, in addition to many reforms, require airlines to notify passengers within 10 minutes of any known diversion, delay or cancellation.