The Need For Voting Reform

Truth and right have prevailed, at last, in the Florida Senate race.  Despite the clear efforts of two Democrat-controlled counties to delay and manipulate the vote count, Republican Rick Scott finally became the official Senate seat winner, as he was, justifiably, on election night!  And do recall, under the heading of absurdity, the Florida counties hit hardest by that recent and devastating Florida Panhandle hurricane, all managed to get their votes tallied and reported on time, while Broward and Palm Beach, untouched by anything other than human intervention, purposeful delay, and partisan intent, missed the mandated deadline and failed their legal obligation miserably.  Score a critical, rightful federal seat victory, despite definite efforts by the opposition to steal it.

But late, questionable voting results elsewhere in the country continued, marring the miraculous results in Florida.  Representative Mia Love may or may not survive vote counting delays in Utah (ridiculously, the counting continues, now two weeks following the election!).  And a young Republican House candidate in California, declared the victor on election night, the first ever Korean-American to win a House seat, and who understandably went to D.C. for House orientation, now appears to be losing to her Democrat rival, long, long after election night.  The pungent odor here, and elsewhere, isn’t from dead fish in the harbor.

Election laws and procedures must be changed prior to 2020, if democracy-loving Americans hope to have fair and just elections going forward, critical to the continuation of just government and individual freedoms.  For starters, election day must be the absolute deadline.  No more of this two weeks (or even two days) after the fact still “discovering” and counting ballots.

So, with the sanctity of election day in mind, going forward, absentee ballots must then be received one day before election day, to allow for the proper accounting, with final absentee results determined prior to polls closing on election night.  Not postmarked on election day, which is absurd from a timely and accurate counting perspective. Received by the county election office no later than one day before the election.  Those received after that to be discarded.  What about mail delays?  Then mail the darn thing early enough to ensure timely delivery.  Deployed military (training or overseas) should leave it up to their installations/units to collect the ballots in a timely, advance manner, and then hand-deliver them to the appropriate election office.

And provisional ballots?  No more. Done with that foolishness!  Provisional ballots are used when there is a question about the voter’s eligibility.  Long past time we stopped pampering voters.  Get proof of citizenship and photo ID to the registration office and get registered (verify if needed) before the election. Period. Voting for U.S. citizens is a privilege and with that privilege comes responsibility.  Make darn certain that you are registered well before the election.  If you fail to do that, then it’s on you.  And, if denied, pretty sure you’ll take the time and effort to make certain about your registration next time.

Then, with the elimination of provisional ballots, other than approved absentee ones, submitted prior to election day (to allow for timely counting and inclusion by election night), there should be no more paper ballots anywhere.  In today’s high-tech era, with the exception of the properly executed and timely-submitted absentee ballots, no reason why all legal voting isn’t being done on machines.

Now to make certain that all legally registered voters can, in fact vote, we must extend early voting days and hours.  At least two weeks of early voting access, and the hours for each day extended from 8 AM until 8 PM, to make it more feasible for working people to vote, if they are unavailable, or choose to avoid possible lines, on election day. Hire the extra polling workers and make it so.

Will any of this get done?  No of course not.  We are too caught up with pampering voters, lest they be at all inconvenienced, or through fear of somehow “suppressing” votes. The latter occurs primarily because too many eligible voters, it appears, won’t get off their butts, despite plenty of advance notice and opportunity, to acquire acceptable photo ID’s, get properly registered, or find ways to get to both registration and polling sites.  There simply are no valid excuses (friends, neighbors, churches, etc.) if a person is actually committed to making an informed vote.   It’s time, again, to emphasize the responsibility part of the citizenship voting right.  No question, by all means, provide help for those citizens who truly need assistance (city-paid scheduled ride requests; registration teams on-site at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and within low-income housing communities; special voting lines for the aged and infirm, etc.).  But we can, should, and must expect personal responsibility from all other legally-eligible-to-vote citizens.  Either become informed and take the responsibility seriously, or don’t vote.  That, too, is a citizen right.  Not the preferred one, but a right nonetheless.

And, finally, we’ve got to put pressure on politicians, and especially elected election officials, to get very serious about requiring proof of citizenship to register and vote.  No more provisional ballots.  This citizenship certification must be done, up front, at registration, prior to voting.  With crazed Leftist campaigns for open borders, sanctuary cities, and in all ways welcoming and fawning over  illegals as future voters (understand, it’s not about the illegals, it’s about their Democrat votes, with illegals to be discarded when no longer electorally useful), there is today, perhaps more than ever, Democrat pressure to allow illegal voting, as a key tactic for stealing more and more election victories all around the nation, until the Leftist-Socialists achieve enough permanent control.

And you can be certain that any genuine, concerted effort to prevent illegals from voting will meet Leftist opposition.  Look at crazed California.  San Francisco now actually allows illegals (sorry: “undocumented immigrants”) to vote in “local school board” elections (rationale: one-third of children in the SF system have foreign-born parents).  How long will it take for illegals there to be permitted to encroach on the remaining ballot?  Best guess: not long.  And who, if anyone, is watching? There’s an excellent chance, no one. With San Francisco’s blatant move to encourage illegal voting (reminder: a sacred right reserved for citizens, regardless of how many illegal’s kids are in school), the movement to vote-enfranchise illegals generally is bound to spread as far and as fast as local Leftists think they can get away with it. Do remember that tentative call on the part of Democrat candidates in Florida last week to count illegal immigrant votes.  Sounds like they already had some (if not a ton) in hand!

Finally, congratulations to Rick Scott, the justly, legally elected new Senator from Florida.  And, while admittedly spitting into the face of hurricane-force winds, a plea for the kind of election law/policies reform that will restore the privilege and responsibility, while ensuring the legality, of citizen voting, and, in the glare of the public spotlight, help preserve the act of voting in America so that it remains exclusively the right of U.S. citizens (while, in that critical regard, keeping two Eagle eyes on California and other Leftist-controlled cities and states around the nation to prevent illegal voting breakouts on future election days).