Conducting elections in the United States is a \u201ccurious\u201d process. I guess if we were to create a new procedure, we would develop a \u201cprofessional\u201d class of vote counters. They would be neutral, not aligned with any party, a kind of electoral \u201cpriesthood\u201d. They would be dedicated to preserving the integrity of the electoral process, our democracy. But that\u2019s not how America works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the beginning of Constitutional government, the United States was divided into partisan camps.\u00a0\u00a0While George Washington tried to rise above the fray, directly below him in his Cabinet and Congressional leaders, the fight was \u201con\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Treasury Secretary Hamilton and Vice President Adams became the Federalists; Secretary of State Jefferson and Speaker of the House Madison the anti-Federalists, later called Democratic-Republicans.\u00a0\u00a0We were political partisans from the beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Americans are nothing if not practical. In a democracy, counting the votes determines political power, and is too important to leave to chance, or to some \u201cneutral\u201d parties. So instead, we aligned our election vote counters, now called Boards of Elections, to the political parties. Here in Ohio there are an equal number of \u201ccard-carrying\u201d Democrats and Republicans on each county Board of Elections. And the department charged with supervising elections statewide, the Secretary of State for Ohio, is partisan, chosen by statewide election (and currently Republican). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the county level, the United States uses transparency to count votes.\u00a0\u00a0Sitting in the room, making the decisions, are representatives of both political parties.\u00a0\u00a0To quote a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, in elections we \u201c\u2026trust, but verify\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yet those Boards of Elections generally get the job done.\u00a0\u00a0They recognize that while they are absolutely partisan, they are also entrusted with the basic \u201cpower\u201d of democracy.\u00a0\u00a0If the public doesn\u2019t trust that the votes are accurate, then nothing else that happens in our government matters.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s what we see today: millions of Americans don\u2019t trust the election results, so they don\u2019t trust the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The partisan overview continues all the way to the precinct level, where voters cast their actual votes.\u00a0\u00a0The poll workers themselves are neutral; they are hired based on a willingness to do the job.\u00a0\u00a0Think of them like \u201cvoluntary\u201d jurors.\u00a0\u00a0But in the polling places the political parties can place \u201cwatchers\u201d, absolute partisans who make sure that their party is treated \u201cfairly\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Those observers often have\u00a0\u00a0legal rights to intervene if they feel the voting process is being unfairly applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We balance the neutral workers with the partisan observers.\u00a0\u00a0And that goes all the way to counting the votes at the Board of Elections, where both parties carefully watch the process.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ve seen it: remember the 2000 election in Florida and the famous “bug-eyed” images of determining whether there was a \u201changing chad\u201d or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We trust that the elections will be fair, but we verify from the lowest level.\u00a0\u00a0Everyone in the polling place has a role in insuring a fair election process.\u00a0\u00a0But what if one political party determined it was in their interest to completely disrupt the process, with the intent of creating delay and distrust in the actual vote?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the goal of the Michigan Republican Party today. Michigan is a polarized state, with a large geographic portion of the state Republican. But geography doesn\u2019t cast votes, people do, and almost half of all Michiganders live in the highly Democratic Detroit metro-area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republican poll \u201cwatchers\u201d in the Detroit precincts are nothing new, but the GOP is now trying a new tactic. They are recruiting partisan poll WORKERS, to serve as a Republican block to voting in the Democratic precincts. They can slow the process, creating long lines, so that folks give up trying to vote. Or they can challenge every step in the voter identification process, frustrating voters from casting their legal votes. The effect will be fewer votes. Fewer votes in the Detroit area precincts means fewer Democrats, and the Republicans can claim electoral victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do we know this is happening?\u00a0\u00a0Thanks to Zoom-like technology, the meetings where the Republican strategy was outlined were recorded, and someone leaked the tape.\u00a0\u00a0So we all now know that, in Michigan and in other states, the national Republican Party has taken the next step to disrupting the voting process.\u00a0\u00a0They are now recruiting poll workers to do the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is that illegal?\u00a0\u00a0Not necessarily, but like a lot of other actions in the past several years, if violates the long-standing \u201cnorms\u201d of the American electoral process.\u00a0\u00a0It fits with the \u201cStop the Steal\u201d plan to undermine confidence in the electoral process.\u00a0\u00a0And it\u2019s part of what evidently is the long-term plan of the Republican Party.\u00a0\u00a0If they can\u2019t win the majority of votes, then they can make sure that the majority of votes aren\u2019t counted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s not what a democracy is. But it is where our democracy may be going.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"