AS I SEE IT
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Pending the outcome of the continued counting of election returns in several states, as well as the lawsuits challenging the voting process in several states, Americans are still waiting for final word as to who will serve as President of the United States. While it appears that Joe Biden has defeated Donald Trump, the country and the world is still waiting for the final numbers which may not be known for several weeks or months.
But after watching the debacle of this year’s Presidential Election, some things about the process that this nation follows in electing the highest office in the land, as well as other elected officials, needs to be seriously looked at.
In my opinion, it appears that no standardized deadline for accepting mail ballots and the lack of voter identification are the two biggest issues that pose problems for the American Election process. And when you add in how the vote count is handled, it makes America’s election process ripe for claims of voter fraud.
It is understandable that the voters who cannot vote on Election Day would want to vote by absentee ballot. And the process for a voter to receive an absentee ballot has become very streamlined as they can simply request one and return it prior to the day of the election. Simple and easy.
But where the process has become rife with the possibility of voter fraud was when some states decided that they would simply mail ballots out to everyone. It apparently didn’t matter whether or not those people were dead or alive, or if they were still residents of the state. They simply mailed out hundreds of thousands of ballots and then accepted them as being legal ballots.
Sound like a formula for an election disaster? It was. According to news reports there were individuals receiving multiple ballots. And to vote multiple times, all they had to do was to fill in the ballot and return it.
Likewise, not every state requires voters to have a photo ID when they cast their vote. Again, the lack of having a photo ID to vote makes no sense. In 2020 you need a photo ID to do everything from buying liquor, cigarettes, guns and marijuana to boarding an airplane.
Again, if a voter can’t prove who they are, it is safe to assume that they are voting illegally.
My final thought on this year’s election is why in the world would the counting of ballots be stopped once the process has started?
Yes, maybe the election workers got tired? But it was very obvious that this election would see a record voter turnout. So wouldn’t you think that every precinct would have enough staff ready to complete the count once it began?
Was, as President Trump is claiming, this year’s election filled with voter fraud?
Some will say it was, while others will say it was not. And in the world of politics, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
But so long as individual states can continue to have a myriad of requirements dealing with who can vote, how people can vote, and how long after the election the votes will be accepted, you can bet that every future election will be contested.