1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I’m writing to urge you to press for a change in the Senate's impeachment rules in order to allow secret ballot voting on conviction, with votes recorded on the Journal and sealed for 20 years. This change requires no constitutional amendment, no statute, and no cooperation from the other chamber. Article I, Section 5 gives each house full authority over its own rules of proceeding. The Senate's current public roll call is its own creation and can be changed by a simple majority vote when the new Congress organizes in January. The evidence that fear — not judgment — drives acquittals is overwhelming. Here are just some examples: Former Senator Jeff Flake estimated at least 35 Republican senators would have voted to remove Trump if the ballot were secret. Mitt Romney was paying $5,000 a day for private security. A member of Republican leadership was talked out of conviction by colleagues invoking his children's safety. Seven voted to convict; 17 were needed. South Korea adopted exactly this reform and used it to remove two presidents, with secret ballots credited for enabling the cross-party defections that made conviction possible. The republic already trusts the secret ballot to protect ordinary voters from coercion and intimidation. Senators swear a separate oath to deliver impartial justice. The rules should make that oath survivable in any political environment. Please make this a priority on the organizing agenda when the new Congress convenes.