I suppose you could say that Democrats don’t want Republicans to vote in November either. The difference is; Democrats aren’t trying to stop Republicans from voting.
It would seem that Republicans only like democracy when it works in their favor. There has been a concerted effort in several states by Republicans, to discourage, block or whatever it takes to keep likely Democratic voters away from the polls, or at least try stopping them from being able to vote if they do show up at the polls.
We all know that the excuse that Republicans are using for all the Voter ID Laws and bans on early voting is to stop fraud. Now if fraud was a really a serious problem and elections were being overturned because of fraud, that would make a lot of sense. Thing is; fraud has not been a problem in the least. The Brennan Center for Justices says, “Fraud by individual voters is both irrational and extremely rare.”
The biggest threat to our elections is not voter fraud but new laws that hinder voters from voting, such as Voter ID laws and laws to end early voting, which has made it easier for working citizens who have a difficult time voting on election day, to vote ahead of time because of their work schedule.
We have had a problem for many years of just getting people to vote. As much as 40 percent of the population doesn’t vote. The reason many don’t vote is because they believe the system is rigged. It isn’t because voter fraud has compromised elections but because the two major political parties always win and are always in control of our politics. Usually those who represent those parties are wealthy and out of touch with most Americans. So yes, many voters have no faith in our elections when money seems to be the all-important ingredient on who wins and who doesn’t.
For the future, I believe we need to work toward an online voting system. I also understand that the security of a system like that has not been perfected yet and there’s a chance of fraud if a system like that was implemented today. But I would think that if we can file our taxes online, which requires us to be able to give enough information to prove who we are, we should be able to have a voting system that is secure enough that we can trust it to count our votes properly.
Still, I for one do not want anything less than a secure voting system because if Republican lawmakers will go to such lengths to win an election as trying to block voters from the polls, there’s no telling what they would do if they could rig an online voting system in their favor. Does that sound like I’m being unfair to the GOP? By their recent actions with Voter ID laws; I don’t think so. They know this isn't about fraud and they know they're using it to block likely Democratic voters, which says they know that they are trying to defraud our very democratic system of voting. Or in other words; they're trying to usurp the will of the People.
Our right to vote is in its very essence, our collective voices all speaking in unison of who we want representing us and what laws we want implemented for us to go by. Without that voice we are no better than the most tyrannical nation.
It is also important that all the different facets of our nation – the rich and the poor, the social conservative and the social liberal, the African-American and the Caucasian, the Hispanic and the Asian, the Christian and the Muslim, the straight and the gay – have a right to have their voices heard.
What I believe is really going on here with the Republican Party is that their platform has become so exclusive and so out of date that they no longer represent what America is. For many decades they depended on using wedge issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion to win elections by responding to the majority of Americans’ moral convictions. Those issues – especially gay marriage – don’t hold the weight they did before as Americans become more enlightened and more accepting of other people’s differences.
In the short-term, there are just two things Democrats and the Justice Department can do:
First, they can continue to fight to stop Voter ID laws and other laws meant to block or discourage voters from the polls.
Secondly, they can do whatever necessary to be sure as many voters as possible are able to get to the polls with proper ID in hand this election. They should do this so that the efforts that Republican lawmakers are using to block likely Democratic voters from the polls are proven to be futile. Eventually they will prove futile anyway because over time, Voter ID laws will be overcome. But right now, the next election is the target Republicans are aiming for and it may be their last chance.
In the long-term, it is time this country move toward a better way to vote and one that will encourage – not discourage – Americans from voting. An online system is obviously the best way to go – it’s convenient so it will encourage more voting, and it will help those who otherwise have a difficult time just getting out of the house because of a disability or another reason. We of course can still have a few physical polls open for those who don’t have access to the Internet.
This nation, its political leaders and its laws are an extension of the People and it is up to the People to decide their future in a collective way: by voting. Any faction that would stand in the way of that democratic process is a direct attack on America’s democracy.
If the GOP cannot win elections fairly with their current platform, then it would be advisable that they change it to one more representative of the People. Voter ID laws is not the right path to secure their place in American politics, but a true and faithful representative government is.
This is a republish from my website: Fidlerten Place