The Election That Threatens American Democracy

Imagine …

“Breaking News: November 4, 2020: The electoral vote count between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden remains undecided 12 hours after polls closed.  Vote tabulations from several states are caught in a mix of uncertainty, charges of voter fraud and of voter suppression, and the sheer inability to get an accurate count.  Many states, despite predictions earlier in the fall that the coronavirus would still be in some places, did not have contingency plans to ensure a full and fair vote.  Universal mail-in voting, not available in most states, meant that frightened citizens could only vote by showing up at the polls.  In several urban hotspots, polling stations closed early or did not open because poll workers refused to show up. Some governors called in the National Guard to help manage crowds, but this appeared to scare away some voters who feared violence and others who heeded conspiracy-fed Internet warnings, likely encouraged by Russian bots, that martial law was imminent. 

In eight states that for the first time allowed expanded absentee and mail voting, requests swamped local officials who could not mail out ballots fast enough or tally the massive response by legal deadlines. Charges from several major city mayors that minority voters could not get to the few polling places open have led them to file court challenges in order to extend the voting period.  Republican leaders have alleged cases of forged mailed-in ballots, and Democratic politicians have denounced voter anti-fraud provisions for blocking many low income voters from casting a ballot because they could not get - or afford to get - needed documentation.  Both Trump and Biden have assembled legal teams, anticipating the need to file federal lawsuits.  An increase in traffic on the Internet by groups calling for massive street protests has concerned local law enforcement, especially in swing states.”

Election Day may not be as dire as this fictionalized account, but everything needed to make it real is present.  We need look no farther than Wisconsin’s April 7th election, in which only 5 of 180 polling sites in Milwaukee were open, the National Guard was called in to help, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused a plea to extend the deadline to count mailed ballots. 

American government, already beset by extreme partisanship and the likelihood that COVID19 will not be eradicated by election day, faces a presidential election whose outcome may call into question the legitimacy of the winner and our democratic system.

Only five states do all elections by mail.  Nine states require voting at polling places.  All states allow absentee ballots, yet in many only certain reasons are accepted.  Some 20 states allow online voting, though in almost all it is restricted to the military.  A recent survey indicated 39 percent of voters would like to vote online, but it is mostly people under 30 who are comfortable doing so. A recent Pew Research Center poll revealed that 66 percent of Americans would feel “uncomfortable going to a polling place to vote” during the coronavirus outbreak.

The time to address this situation is fading.  No bipartisan approach is in sight. Republicans and Democrats at the state and national level owe their country and its future a full, fair, and legitimate election.  Politics as usual is unconscionable.

Legislation and funding, at the Federal and state level, are needed at least to:

·       Expand the option to vote electronically and/or by mail to all states, with safeguards to prevent fraud and voter coercion;

·       Provide vote-tracking so any citizen voting by mail can verify their vote was received and correctly counted;

·       Provide trained personnel to assist voters, such as the elderly, who need help using mail or electronic ballots;

·       Require states to allow the coronavirus as a justification for absentee ballots;

·       Expand early voting to all states and the period for doing so to make it easier to socially distance when voting in person;

·       Provide adequate funding to print and mail ballots and staff sites for counting a dramatically increased number of them;

·       Ensure election funding is used for that purpose, rather than diverted to other priorities;

·       Recruit younger poll workers to replace older ones who are now the majority but may be afraid to serve;

·       Provide a clearinghouse to share best state and local election practices; and

·       Secure electronic voting systems against foreign hacking.

Some of these steps will be opposed for partisan reasons.  Others will be viewed as too costly or too difficult.  Still others will be viewed as none of the federal government’s business.  This is missing the forest of democracy for the trees of political infighting. 

We are now spending trillions on a pandemic that could have been handled much better if we had planned and spent for it much earlier.  We are making the same mistake with our democracy.  Failure to protect its most basic function now will mean huge costs later – costs no amount of “stimulus” funding can fix.

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