Partisan opponents find common ground on election reform

Four years ago, Michael Steele and Donna Brazile sat down together in Charlottesville, Va., to discuss ways a Republican and a Democrat can bridge the divide on issues of race, despite their partisan differences.

Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Brazile, who led the Democratic National Committee, reconvened Tuesday to find common ground on election reform.

Early on, Steele framed the discussion around three words.

“The three words are ‘we the people,’ and the fundamental principle is that all of us get to play,” Steele...