Vote by Mail is a Pitch in the Dirt

Vote by mail had turned into a point of discussion weeks ago due to safety concerns during the pandemic.  Now the issue is renewed in Illinois after JB Pritzker signed new legislation into effect that will send vote by mail applications to 5 million Illinoisans ahead of the November elections.  As you would guess, I have no problem with voting by mail.  Not everyone sees it that way so I would like to challenge everyone to instead examine the real voting issues that keep people from voting and keeps career politicians in office.

How do Democrat’s and republicans differ on the vote by mail issue?  Democrats want to increase participation and allow many who are afraid to vote during the pandemic to do so safely.  Republicans worry about voter fraud.  It became  a heated partisan issue when  Republicans claimed  that it impacts them directly.  Research shows that it has no benefit to either party.  If you want a deeper dive into election fraud, The Heritage Foundation created a good interactive map to see what issues each state has had.  They report 1285 instances of voter fraud over an extended period of time.  That number compared to all voters does not seem like a very high percentage of fraud taking place.  Only four documented cases of voter fraud took place in the 2016 election.

Do not be distracted from the real problems.  The two real issues to focus on here are election day administration and gerrymandering.  Take a look at what happened in Atlanta recently on their primary election day.  Many voters waited hours in line just to be shuffled around and given alternative ballots because machines could not be operated.  As a technologically advanced country, why does this happen?  I won't point the finger just yet and say it is on purpose to keep people from voting (oops I just did), but we clearly do not value the practice of voting.  Voting is the easiest way to have your voice heard in our democracy.  If we are the great nation we say we are, the administration of the process on election day, would have more resources devoted to it.  If you looked at the Heritage Foundation site, you would see many of the fraud cases  come from registration and double voting.  A boost in effort and resources could prevent these things from happening.  We have to say that it is important enough that we will spend extra time and resources for a smooth election day.  Otherwise, we are accepting the status quo that produces consistently low voter turnout and less than desirable results.

Gerrymandering.  I'm sure you remember that funny word from high school government class.  If you need a review, it is simply drawing districts where your base voters are.  Look at this congressional map of Ohio.  The current map on the left should have some red flags.  Look how jagged and strategically manufactured those districts are.  Especially the district that Cleveland is in.  This practice benefits the party in power because they get to draw the map.  If redrawn in either other configuration, the popular vote would have more say over the outcome.  In fact, in the 2018 election, Democrats won 2035 seats in the House with a 6.7% popular vote margin.  Republicans could have won 235 seats with just a 1.1% margin. (Please click on the link for the methodology.)





I can't image anyone seeing this as fair.  We all complain about career politicians and I support term limits fully.  Completely ending gerrymandering would not only make things better for voters, it would put politicians on notice that they are there to serve and if not it may be a short stay.

The vote by mail issue is a pitch in the dirt.  Don't chase it.  There are other election problems to tackle that would create the results we want.  If we want to strengthen our democracy, we have to take control of the issues and not let those who benefit tell us what to think about.  Demand reform in the areas that will  impact democracy the most.