You can’t turn on the news without somebody talking about voting. Unfortunately, too much of the talk concerns the manufactured controversy about the right to vote vs. voter fraud. Anyone with any knowledge of how voting works in this country is extremely confident that our system works. (Really. Check with experts and non-partisan historians!)There is little or no evidence that fraud (of any measurable amount)is running rampant through our system.
As with many issues (too many!), you have to consider a person’s (or group of people) motivation to make voter fraud a topic of discussion. The right to vote is sacred to our democracy. If anything is true, we should be figuring out how to make it easier for qualified people to vote. Instead, some are using overly broad criteria to eliminate fraud and if qualified people get caught up in the process….”oh well, that’s a shame.” We are no longer a representative democracy if we allow certain groups of people to be excluded from voting based upon unsupported “hunches” as a basis for exclusion. As the political parties know all too well, the suggestion that voting is somehow rigged against them (repeated ad infinitum) adds a measure of doubt that is detrimental to voter confidence in the system. For some, when you can’t get enough people to vote for you on your merits, you figure out a way to suppress the vote of those who would likely vote against you. In a world where only results matter and tactics are a simple means to an end, this strategy is a winner. But at what cost? No one wants to advocate FOR voter fraud but, that should not be the overriding issue being discussed as elections draw near. Voter registration and the tabulation of those votes cast is decentralized (to the states) for a good reason, which makes the alleged “rigging” that much more unlikely.
A question that never seems to be answered is “Why would someone want to vote if there are not eligible? What is the motivation? Putting aside the multitude of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories on this topic – it makes no sense. Why would an immigrant (the source of all evil, in some camps) risk whatever status they have, to vote for some local city counselor or any office for that matter? With ICE seemingly lurking around every corner, why would anyone take that risk? They wouldn’t. As described above, the motivation for those who want to disqualify people from voting is abundantly clear. When your party’s ability to maintain political power is on the line, despite the true will of the people, there seems to be no limit on what is acceptable.
This unreasonable focus on catching the “cheaters” (a documented tiny number of people relative to the voting population) is a ruse, designed to distract from the real issues of the day. This of course results in it becoming more difficult for rightful citizens to exercise their right to play their part in determining who leads their government at every level. Unfortunately, we have to look beyond the stated goals of such executive orders and/or legislation, which is carefully worded to sound fair and reasonable (Who wants to vote against a “One big, beautiful bill” or “ The patriot act”?) but in real terms has very negative consequences. We must stay vigilant – keep our heads on straight – to not allow such policies to diminish the importance of the fair registration and recording the will of the people on Election Day. To think that this may not impact you personally so it is not important misses the point. It is all of our responsibility to protect the right to vote, not just for ourselves, but for all of those who have earned the right to cast their votes on Election Day.
And don’t even get me started on gerrymandering!
(Cranky enough for you?)
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