Voter Suppression
There are two myths being peddled about elections that need to be exposed. Each side is engaged in its own fantasy that it thinks excites its base.
Republicans say there is voter fraud and mail-in balloting will make the problem worse. Democrats say (loudly): “There is no evidence of voter fraud.” In the logic trade, that is called proof by assertion. We have a long history of voter fraud in this country. Lyndon Johnson bought the precincts in southern Texas to get to the Senate. He then brought those precincts to the table for JFK. That’s the reason he was selected (with noses held tightly shut) as VP. Texas, plus the graves of Chicago, enabled Kennedy to beat Nixon. In more recent times, I have personally observed voter fraud. Having once served as a poll worker, I observed the ease of casting a fraudulent ballot. That said, I’ve seen no evidence of widespread fraud.
There is evidence that Democrats are much better at vote harvesting than Republicans. They mobilize an army of union members (mostly from the public sector unions) to go door to door collecting ballots or pushing people to mail their ballots. Physically collecting ballots is illegal in most places, but it goes on. California has legalized the process. I cannot imagine that any intimidation could be involved in the process. Republicans will eventually catch on and come up with some counter measures.
Democrats loudly claim “voter suppression”. Unfortunately, the examples they cite of long lines and closed polling places have almost all occurred in jurisdictions where the election process is run by Democrats. The problem isn’t suppression; it’s incompetence. The overarching complaint is about the effort by Republicans to pass laws mandating that voters show a valid ID in order to vote. In fact, minority voter participation in states with voter ID laws has been robust.
As opposed to the sterile debate that is taking place, I suggest that we work on improving the security of our voting system, and spread the word on best practices, so that we can have an efficient, open and cost effective process.
Finally, a suggestion that might glean support across the political spectrum. Democrats claim that minority voters are targeted by ID laws because a disproportionate number of them do not have IDs. That is probably true and it is a real problem. I suggest that we mount an effort to do something about it. Let’s have a campaign to help everybody get a valid ID. There are a whole lot of things in modern life that can’t be accessed without a valid ID. We owe it to all of our citizens to see that they have full access. If every potential voter had an ID, voter ID laws wouldn’t be a problem. If voters had to present a valid ID with a picture, there would be less chance of fraudulent votes being cast.
After the epidemic is over, we should encourage everyone who can do so to vote in person. The act of showing up at a polling place with your fellow citizens and casting a secret ballot has great symbolic and emotional value. Democracy is a fragile flower that needs to be watered and fertilized.
