Democrats need to be ruthless on fixing voting. They're paying a steep price for neglect. Voting reforms should be top priority for all Democrats, now in states and later in Washington. What good are policy gains if you can't sustain them?

Jill Lawrence | USA TODAY

Let’s get real about fixing voting. There are some things Democrats can do now in the states, and there are some they can do the next time they control the House, Senate and White House.

Yes, Republicans are missing from that sentence. Democrats need to help themselves, not engage in another futile effort to get Republicans on board with what ought to be a no-brainer. The urgency of this cannot be overstated: It should be the top priority for every Democrat in America. Because what good are policy gains if you can't sustain them?

I can't fault elected Democrats for going for wins like the Affordable Care Act when they are in control, and playing hardball to get them. The ACA certainly benefited from steely determination — and pushing the envelope on Senate procedure — in the face of long odds. President Barack Obama’s nominations were another example; many moved along only after then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democrats voted to eliminate the filibuster on them and allow approval by a simple majority of 51.

Voting fixes might protect Democratic gains

In 2009, after majority Senate Democrats turned a five-page bill protecting historic war sites into a 466-page package of 160 conservation-oriented public lands bills and pushed it through, Republicans were resentful for years. One Democrat told me that "of course" there was no incentive to negotiate with Republicans: "We didn't need to, so why would we?" That is a fact of life on both sides.

But as aggressive and ruthless as Democrats have been in pursuing policy goals, their achievements are under constant legislative, executive and judicial threat because they failed to put in place political machinery to protect them. That neglect is having painful consequences for health care, the environment, consumer protection, Wall Street regulation, the tax code and the national debt. And more backsliding is inevitable, given the makeup of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court.

In the best of all worlds, Congress would standardize voting procedures; pour money into equipment, training and security; require nonpartisan redistricting commissions; adopt a national Voting Rights Act that requires federal approval of voting changes in all states (not just some as in the original act); and make Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico states with two senators apiece, one House member for Washington (population close to 700,000) and five members for Puerto Rico (population 3.3 million).

It's only fair that they become states. Vermont and Wyoming have fewer people than Washington does, yet they have full voting rights and representation in Congress. As for Puerto Rico, well, a seven-member congressional delegation surely would have raised an immediate ruckus over the federal response to Hurricane Maria. That alone underscores what happens when people have no real representation.

More: Upgrade voting systems, restore Voting Rights Act, end suppression before 2020

Republicans are rigging elections to win. They're anti-voter and anti-democracy.

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There is, however, a larger reason Washington and Puerto Rico should be states. The nation and in particular the Senate are on a dangerous course. Conservatives, many from vast but sparsely populated states, increasingly are making decisions opposed by liberals densely packed in cities and inner suburbs. It isn't unusual for Democrats to win the national popular vote in House and presidential elections, without racking up the proportionate victories.

That’s even true this year. Democrats are headed to as much as a 9-percentage point win in the popular vote and have picked up at least 37 House seats — yet in gerrymandered North Carolina, Republicans won 50.3 percent of the popular vote and 10 of 13 House seats.

The soonest Democrats could run the table nationally from Washington would be 2021. In the meantime, the House Democrats should pass all reforms they can and force Republicans to show what side they're on. And state activists should aim to put reforms directly before voters in 2020 ballot measures wherever possible. This year, while a few states added voting restrictions, more states made it easier to vote and changed how districts are drawn to prevent gerrymandering situations like North Carolina.

Voting reforms also ought to be top priority in the 14 "trifecta" states where Democrats now control the state house, state senate and governorship. And whether through the party or other organizations, by whatever means are legal, rich Democrats ought to direct money to equipment upgrades, professionalizing voter administration (including ballot design) and candidates who are committed to reforms.

Republicans are not interested in solutions

Six years ago, I urged Republicans to take up voting reform, in part to counter the impression that they did not want minorities or young people to have an easy time voting. Instead, they have gone in the opposite direction. The party brand is now racist rhetoric and suppression tactics from the top on down.

Maybe this is sacrilege, and as a longtime believer in compromise, I hate saying it, but Democrats need to move forward immediately on their own and be as brutal in protecting their own interests as Republicans have been in protecting theirs. This means removing obstacles to voting and taking every step possible to ensure that all votes count.

Given America's demographic trajectory and the dark path the GOP is on, a voting overhaul is likely to help Democrats more than Republicans right now. That could change, but first the Republican Party would have to be reborn as a practical, tolerant and conservative party that's interested in facts, evidence and constructive solutions to real problems.

Jill Lawrence, a resident of Washington, D.C., is the commentary editor of USA TODAY and author of "The Art of the Political Deal: How Congress Beat the Odds and Broke Through Gridlock." Follow her on Twitter: @JillDLawrence