Voting Problems

Editor's Note: This is the first in a short series of articles in which Dan will focus on voting and the 2020 presidential election in the United States. Much has been made in the press refuting President Trump's warnings of massive voter fraud related to mail-in ballots. Fraud may not be the best choice of words and massive may be wildly overstating the danger, but there are problems worth investigating, as Dan points out in today's look at voting. You can also find other articles on SeniorLifestyle by searching on the Voting & Elections topic.

“Nearly 350,000 dead registrants remain on voter rolls across 41 states, according to an audit conducted by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF). The number is a major improvement over the last time an assessment of a similar scope was performed in 2012, when a Pew Research report turned up 2 million problematic registrations (deceased, invalid address, registering at a new address without cancelling the old registration, etc.).

With not much time left before Election Day in November, the report is a major contribution to the argument about mail-in voting. Supporters of vote-by-mail say it is more essential than ever in 2020 due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Opponents say universal mail-in ballots open the door for fraud and undermine confidence in the outcome of the election.

“Timing is critical. Partisan advocates have fought for automatic vote-by-mail systems in which all registered voters are sent ballots. Some 100 million voters will receive either ballots or ballot request forms in the mail, according to a tally maintained by The Washington Post. Early and absentee voting has already begun in some states. In 2016, there were 43,760 such duplicate votes cast. In 2018, the number dropped to 37,889.

Tens of thousands of the apparent duplicate votes were cast by mail, the report found. The report also found 8,360 voters who appear to be registered in two states and voted in both. An additional 5,500 voters were apparently registered at two addresses in the same state and voted from both. The most populous states tend to have the most deceased registrants on voter rolls.” But is it possible to eliminate these misbehaviors before the coming election in 2020 ? Probably not entirely anyway. . What can be done, if anything?

An audit combined voter roll data from 42 states into a database where each registrant and vote could be cross-referenced to detect duplicate votes cast from the same address and spot registrants who appear to have voted more than once in their state or across state lines. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the potential for fraud in a mass mail-in vote election and has been picked apart for it.

Why do typical citizens who can vote don’t and non citizens who can’t vote do? Is there a way to guarantee a legal election? If so, what is it? These thoughts above are mostly quotes, discussion starters, accurate and/or guesswork. Will ideal federal and local elections occur by 2024 or later on? Or no more elections? Sobering questions aren’t they?