Voting Rights

 Democrats have ready for consideration a bill called the voting rights bill. Like so much of political speech, however, the bill has nothing to do with voting rights. 

It stems from the 2020 election and its aftermath. Two senatorial runoff elections in Georgia, both won by Democrats, led to attempts by Trump to manipulate state officials, and multiple accusations of vote fraud. Trump asserted the national election was stolen, ultimately leading to a mob attacking the Capitol in an effort to stop certification of the vote. Vice-President Pence stepped in, certified the vote, and ended the entire sordid mess. Other events leading to legislation were the closing of polling sites and the purging of voter rolls.

Democrats charge that Republicans are deliberately limiting voter access through laws restricting vote by mail and early voting, and by closing polling places. In response are the elements of the voting bills now under consideration. They are well summarized here.  The bill incorporates not only national voting rules but campaign finance reform and registration rules, all of which would apply nationally, superseding the current variety of state laws. Among the major elements are-

    -states required to offer ballot box and same day registrations;

    -automatic registration when anyone interacts with the DMV;

    -minimum of 15 days early voting in every state;

    -vote by mail for anyone who wants it;

    -mandatory vote drop boxes;

    -ballots accepted up to 7 days after election day;

    -broad voter ID options- utility bills, credit cards, and any other state or local             document with the person's name, or simply an affidavit of identity provided         by another adult;

    -restore voting rights to released felons;

    -establishes a 'right to vote', opening a path for extensive election day suits;

    -re-activation of the pre-clearance rules of the Voting Rights Act;

    -federal rules on redistricting, with provision for suit by voters;

    -requires paper ballots, and that voting machines not be internet connected;

    -poll watchers not allowed closer than 8 feet at any time during ballot counting;

    -rules on auditing elections;

    -PACs must disclose their donors.

The Hill carried a strongly politically phrased advocacy of the bill this morning, laying out how Democrats see the events of 2020 and the advantages of their bill. Their objectives sound noble and fair, an opening of society to participation. Republicans concerns about voting integrity sound prejudiced, limiting, regressive.

Except that none of this is true.

Democrats, and the media, have successfully framed Republican concerns on election integrity as a lie. Almost no one will even publish material on questions raised by Republicans. To even suggest there is voter fraud is to be unfriended, ridiculed, even fired from work. And yet substantial questions are unanswered that must be answered. In this blog I wrote about multiple well documented cases of voter fraud, every single one of them by Democrats. Numerous irregularities in voter totals have never been addressed. The honesty and honorable responsibility of voting officials has been repeatedly emphasized, as if this alone prevents fraud.

Except no one is claiming voting officials are corrupt. They are claiming, with some evidence, that false voter registrations and  ballots are being injected into the ballot stream. This is readily accomplished by inserting intermediate, untraceable steps between the voter and the polling place, such as ballot boxes, ballot aggregators (who gather and deliver the ballots of others), and by soft registration laws without picture ID. 

More than 70% of Americans favor picture voter ID, and other nations whose voting practices are touted use picture IDs. There is nothing unusual about needing ID for all manner of transactions in our society. You cannot ship packages without one, or get on an airliner or train. You cannot notarize a document without very limited forms of picture identification, get professional licenses, or get a mortgage or a car loan without photo ID.

Voter rolls across the nation are wildly inaccurate. Dead people, bad addresses, inaccurate, unsigned, and incomplete registrations, and unqualified aliens and felons remain on rolls for years. Yet Democrats oppose the purging of these inaccurate records. When Georgia purged its records it was labeled partisan and racist. But there is nothing racist about wanting accurate records, nor is it intrinsically partisan. 

Democrats claim, and the media repeats, that Republicans want to limit voter participation, especially by 'people of color', by closing polling places and limiting ballot boxes and late vote counting. In fact closure of polling places in Georgia and elsewhere was via a bipartisan committee, and involved redundant and poorly attended polling locations. Ballot boxes, aggregators, and mail-in votes all greatly increase the opportunity to inject fake votes into the ballot stream. In police and legal work, chain of custody is a critical issue for validity of evidence and documents. Every attorney knows this, but somehow only Democratic lawmakers want to increase opportunities for falsification. They also have ridiculed efforts to trace ballots and legitimize counts.

Late voting makes no sense to me except as a chance to manipulate elections both practically and emotionally. We go to bed on election night expecting a winner. Instead we get days and weeks of votes trickling in, affecting outcomes, spurring cries of manipulation, increasing distrust. I can see no reason that votes should not be in the polling places on election day before the polls close. Voting by mail? It's your responsibility to get your vote there in time. Same goes for APO/FPO votes and absentee ballots. By extending late vote tallies all we guarantee is strife.

Voter registration should not be easy. Only citizens should vote, and proof should be required. 16 states and the District of Columbia allow driver's licenses to be issued to illegal aliens. Since the Democratic proposals allow DMV voter registration this is a straight path to allowing illegal aliens to vote. I can see no advantage to allowing anyone but US citizens to vote. Simply being in the US does not entitle you to a voice in our government. 

Federalizing redistricting rules is an unwarranted federal interference in what has always been a state obligation and prerogative....unless you object to the fact that a majority of state legislatures and governorships are held by Republicans, in which case redistricting takes place under their aegis. Like every other part of this bill supposedly on voting rights, this part is really about partisan gain.

But what is most striking to me about the entire bill is the Democrats' unwillingness to open voter registration and ballots to serious scrutiny. Every element of the bill obscurers ballot integrity and authenticity of registration. All this does is make fraud easier. It is not difficult to discern the reason for this- no one tries to quench light who does not want to operate in darkness. This push for obfuscation of voter ID and ballot source is the inverse of what the bill does to the money trail, which it tries to bring to light. Once again, everyone knows why- the Citizens' United decision by SCOTUS made unlimited corporate donations possible. Prior to that decision only unions could give in bulk to politics.

Well here's a revolutionary idea- how about making it ALL transparent and strict-            -picture IDs in order to vote

        -polling place supervision 

        -all votes counted on election day 

        -all late votes discarded

        -NO campaign donations at all, but federally financed elections

        -mail-in ballots only on request, and that request tracked. All ballots mailed                 out accounted for so number in cannot exceed number sent out.

Do these things, and I will know you're serious about election integrity. Anything else is just manipulation for partisan gain.

Ted