Fair and Accurate
Extra!! Extra!! Read all about it!! The 2020 election was the most secure election ever held in the United States!
Here in Ohio, the Secretary of State (Ohio’s election chief) just released the numbers. Out of almost six million votes cast – thirteen votes were cast by non-eligible voters. That’s .000223% (needed the big calculator for that one), or 2.23 illegal votes per million cast. Hardly enough to change an election; in fact, well within the “margin of error” for just counting the votes.
And that accuracy and integrity is mirrored throughout the nation. It’s a marvel of our democracy. At the worst moment in our national pandemic, when the most dangerous action was to gather in large crowds indoors, the United States conducted the largest election ever held here. Over 159 million votes were cast, 28 million more than the previous biggest turnout in 2008.
And for those of you who think the turnout size itself is “evidence” of election fraud – the US population as a whole increased by over 24 million since 2008. Yes, a higher percentage of folks voted, but the voter “pool” was bigger as well.
Meet the Moment
We did it with masks and with mail-in ballots. We did it by allowing folks to vote early, and vote longer. The election workers of America did everything they could to make voting safe (from COVID). And we found what should be the “model” for American voting – the “model” that enabled more Americans to vote than ever before.
Talk about a time to “pat yourself on the back”! We did it, and we found ways to do it safely. There weren’t viral “super-spreader” events. And we took a huge step towards achieving the American dream, of EVERY AMERICAN citizen having the opportunity to vote. Isn’t that what America is supposed to be about?
But in almost every state in the Union, the 2020 election has caused an outcry in the state legislatures, and in many, laws that restrict voting. Instead of fireworks and parades for our great election success, many states are limiting voter access, and taking election authority away from those officials who pulled off America’s great success.
Big Lie
If you’ve read my essays in “Our America” very often, you know I’m no fan of the 45th President. And certainly he provided the impetus for voting restriction with his “Big Lie” strategy of eroding America’s confidence in the voting process. He “lit the fuse” that led to January 6th Insurrection. And there is a large segment of Americans who still “secretly” believe his lie.
But there is a difference between “the fuse” and “the bomb”. It’s taken a concerted effort of many politicians who know better than to serve as “the bomb” blowing up our national election expansion. And before anyone says it – these are not the “uneducated” masses that the 45th President is so fond of. These are our “leaders”, some with advanced degrees from the most prestigious universities in our nation.
Two quick examples: on Fox News a guest commentator, Pete Hegseth, continues to push the “Big Lie”, including refusing last week to confirm that Joe Biden even won the election. Hegseth is a Princeton graduate (2003) with a Harvard advanced degree. Josh Hawley, Senator from Missouri who still leads the charge to undermine the election: Stanford undergrad (2002), Yale Law School. So much for a “Liberal” arts education.
Future Republicans
There is more to the voter suppression movement than the Presidential election of 2020. It’s all about the Republican Party’s decision to “double-down” on white “victimization” rather than looking to expand to include the interests of minorities. That’s a demographic nightmare for Republicans. The United States is moving inexorably (I love that word) towards a “minority-majority” nation. Whites will be less than 50% by 2045. So a political strategy that depends on winning white voters only is a “losing” strategy – at least in the long run (and that’s only twenty-four years).
So here’s the “simple” math. Republicans depend on white votes to stay in power. Whites make up a shrinking percentage of the population. So, Republicans must do two things. They must get an increasing percentage of the white vote, and they must keep the non-whites, the votes they have given up, from voting.
The “bomb” was set before the 45th President, and before the pandemic. But the exigencies of pandemic voting pushed even the Republican election officials in places like Georgia and here in Ohio to expand access to voting, putting them in direct conflict with their own Party. They did their job first – got people to the polls – but now are “retrenching” to Party goals.
Rig the Vote
And for those election officials in places like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona who happen to be Democrats – the Republican state legislatures are changing laws and even state constitutions to remove their powers. Many Republican legislatures are trying to take over the power to determine whether the vote count is “acceptable” – putting themselves as “super electors” over the popular vote.
It’s an ugly process, and one that is truly Un-American. The inexorable (there it is again) tide of history and population growth is against them. Democrats may lose some battles, like those they are gallantly fighting in Texas and Georgia. But in the longer view, Republicans are betting on a losing strategy. And the longer view really isn’t that long.
