We’re hearing a lot about new state laws that will have the effect of suppressing the vote of some minority voters around the country. If we believe all we hear some of the state legislatures are passing these laws under the guise of tightening up the state’s election security provisions. Now, we should all be in favor of secure elections so we are reluctant to complain, but we are concerned that these increased security measures will create problems on election day. We are tasking our elections officials with administering a secure and fair election, but we worry that security provisions may get in the way of fair elections and there is historical evidence that this has happened before.
We will need to have polling places located at convenient places around our state so that every voter can conveniently access them and cast their ballot. We will need the ability to vote by mail for those voters who are unable to access the polling places around our state. And we will need easy access to voter registry persons to clear up any issues at the last minute and give us access to provisional balloting if necessary.
Once we have voted, we want to have confidence that our ballot will be properly tallied so that our votes will be equally counted and recorded as part of the ultimate outcome. This is the step where we have the most concern. It is also the step that has garnered the most attention in the past and our current concerns should be reflected in increased witnessing going forward. At each level of the tallying process, we should expect to see people witnessing the procedures being followed to ensure the integrity of the work our election workers are doing. And finally, when all the vote tallies are calculated we want to know that the results are certified with the highest and most professional standards of integrity.
It is alleged that the goal of the new laws being passed, is to create confusion over the vote tallying results so that there will be doubt about the election outcome. In theory, it is alleged, that this uncertainty will give the people who certify the outcome enough cover to allow them to decide the election for the candidate of their choice and not necessarily our choice. It seems to me that if the tallying has been properly done and properly witnessed, there will be little room for confusion and less cover available for the certification process to interpret the result. The certifiers could still choose to impose their will on the election outcome, but such a step will most certainly bring about legal challenge.
I’m thinking that some of the current allegations and concerns are probably overreaction, but we should work to be sure that the process is fully observed from start to finish so that there is no room for funny business.
And if there seems to be confusion, it should be observable in all the ballot measures. If it seems to occur only in some of the ballot measures, it is almost certainly funny business.
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