I was twenty-one years old, but a seasoned campaign veteran in the spring 1978. I\u2019d started campaigning when I was fourteen, and seven years later, I\u2019d organized several counties and run the Cincinnati sign operation for the successful Jimmy Carter Campaign. I\u2019d also run a winning Congressional Get Out the Vote effort. So I was pretty confident that a State Representative Campaign wouldn\u2019t be too difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had beautiful literature, wonderful sign locations, and highly visible signs and bumper stickers. I was proud of what we were doing, and even prouder of my candidate. She was a great speaker, great with people, and had a true desire to make things better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our one concern: the core of our \u201cbase\u201d in the State Representative District was in a traditionally Republican area. And while that was good news for the general election, it was a problem in the primary, where only Democrats were allowed to vote for us. But there wasn\u2019t much of interest on the Republican side of the ballot, and many of our supporters were going to\u201ccross-over\u201d and declare themselves Democrats for the purpose of voting for \u201cus\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seven years as a campaigner, and I thought I knew all about the \u201cpolling places\u201d. Back then, long computer lists were posted on the doors, updated by hand every couple of hours to show who voted and who hadn\u2019t. And as a campaign staffer, I could enter the polling place and measure how things were going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ohio is a \u201cclosed primary\u201d state. That means that you have to be a \u201cregistered\u201d Democrat to vote with a Democratic ballot. But you could change you registration upon request at the polling place. You simply asked for the Democratic instead of the Republican ballot, and generally that\u2019s all it took. Next time the voting rolls were updated, there would be a \u201cD\u201d beside you name. It happened all the time: over six years of voting listed beside a name, you might see R-D-R or R-D-D (or mine \u2013 a D-D-D). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we also knew about the technicality. If you asked to change party affiliation, a \u201cpoll-watcher\u201d could challenge that change. That would require the voter to fill out a form, saying they supported the other party, and wanted to change. They simply said yes \u2013 and signed the form. There was a penalty for lying \u2013 it was fifth degree felony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course there was absolutely no way to know if anyone was lying. The one thing almost every American knows is that the ballot is \u201csecret\u201d, and has been since the late 1800\u2019s. So no one would ever know how you voted before or on that ballot. It wasn\u2019t attainable information. And wanting to vote for a particular candidate was in fact \u201csupporting the other party\u201d. So it wasn\u2019t a lie, and it wasn\u2019t a big deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But our wily primary opponent knew that fear was \u201c9\/10\u2019s of the law\u201d. So he sent big, burly watchers to the polling places in our base. Their job: to verbally challenge every R to D change, and force them to sign the affidavit. The watchers made sure to emphasize the penalties, and many voters began to wonder, \u201cAm I doing something wrong?\u201d Instead of thousands of votes in our base, we got a couple hundred. Many of our supporters didn\u2019t even vote at all, but left the polling place concerned and confused. We lost the election, and I learned another valuable lesson in politics \u2013 intimidation works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was forty-three years ago \u2013 and I can assure you things haven\u2019t gotten better. Here in Ohio we still have those laws, though absentee voting makes it less intimidating to change parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poll \u201cwatchers\u201d can challenge any voter\u2019s legal right to vote. And while they aren\u2019t supposed to challenge \u201cwithout cause\u201d, the sheer presence of someone willing to make that challenge, is enough to keep many from voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the major demands of the Republican voter law \u201cretrenchments\u201d throughout the country is to grant even easier access to poll watchers.\u00a0\u00a0It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise to anyone, the 2020 Trump campaign was looking for off-duty police officers to volunteer to \u201cwatch\u201d in largely Democratic and minority precincts.\u00a0\u00a0And now in Texas, Georgia, and Arizona \u2013 the watchers can take an even bigger role in the polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when a voter goes into the wrong precinct, has a change of address, or has some other glitch in their registration: the poll watcher can challenge their right to vote. Now in most states the voter has the right to ask for a provisional ballot, one that can be \u201ccured\u201d of defect after the election. But with intimidating poll watchers, how many will walk out of the polling place, confused and concerned and afraid that somehow, they \u201cbroke the law\u201d? And how many of those watchers will it take to change the outcome of an election? Ask the Trump Georgia campaign of 2020 \u2013 it wouldn\u2019t take much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Election law is arcane. It\u2019s easy to make a mistake. Ask my very-well educated friend who missed signing a ballot petition in two places. When he asked the Board of Elections personnel if everything was OK, they said they thought so. He turned in the application – then they disqualified him from the ballot, and even from running as a write-in candidate. And if a candidate can make that kind of mistake, what can happen to the casual voter? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is that what we want American elections to be about \u2013 intimidation and threat rather than an open and welcoming voting system? Tripping folks up on technicalities easily \u201ccured\u201d, rather than protecting their vote? Don\u2019t we want it to be easy for every legal voter to cast their ballot, not harder? In an era when I can buy a car, sell my house, and even go to my doctor without leaving my home \u2013 why force folks to \u201cgo\u201d vote? Is making it harder really \u201cAmerican\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making it harder to vote does give a political advantage to one side. The ever-shrinking Republican Party is staring into the face of changing demographics. Those changes are leaving their Party behind. Republicans are struggling to stay in power. Their chosen solution is NOT to make their Party more widely appealing. Instead, it\u2019s to make it more difficult to vote, for everyone \u2013 and hope that their own fewer voters still show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To misquote John Mellencamp \u2013 \u201cThat ain\u2019t American, for you and me\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"