Your great-grandfather was City Clerk of the fourth largest city in a state. One of his main jobs was to conduct elections. My memory may be faulty (that’s getting to be a common theme) but I believe there was a staff of four or five people in his office. Every eligible voter had an opportunity to vote and I know he was very proud when election day went smoothly. By election day I mean DAY. Polls opened at 7 A.M. and closed at 8 P.M. I believe results were pretty much totaled by 8:30 or 9 at the latest. I never saw my father stressed by election mishaps, delays or anyone standing in line at 8 PM.
There were absentee ballots. Provision was made in the law for individuals who could not get to the polls on election day. For example I voted absentee when I was in the military as well as in college. Nuns come to mind as they didn’t go out in public and voted from the convent. And, there were persons at nursing homes or individuals who otherwise could not physically get to a voting precinct. I do remember negative comments about some local candidates or their coherts visiting shut-in voters to offer help in mailing their absentee ballots. I believe one candidate who lost by a close count grumped about the issue. No proof but suspicion that a “nice person” did more than collect and mail the ballots. It was a situation ripe for influencing a voter. We are talking about local candidates and minimal local impact. However, in the back of my mind a red flag is raised on the more recent issue of extensive “ballot harvesting”.
The entire issue of voters not getting to a polling place on election day has never made much sense to me. Make the effort. Of course, the comeback is that some people can’t get off work or have emergencies that prevent voting in a constrained timeframe. Understood. To Papa weekend voting or a three or four day window to vote made sense in such circumsatnces. However, in many states, even graeter opportunity to vote has developed. Early voting! Sometimes for weeks. How much time is needed to go vote? I’ve never liked the early vote concept. (What if a candidate actually did beat their spouse and it came to light before the election but after I voted?)
Ultimatiums have consequences. Papa now lives in a state with all mail-in voting. No polling stations. No poll workers. At first, a “secrecy envelope” for the actual ballot was provided. Then a “secrecy sleeve”. Then, a third step of “trust us completely”. Voter mails ballot and they’ll count. Except when they can’t. Papa’s county had errors on the bar code of ballots in the tens of thousands. One more leap of faith. Our ballots were looked at and then new ballots were “hand marked” exactly as we intended to be counted. (As you will learn in life, government is remarkably at 100% accuracy.) Those repacement ballots had good bar codes. Election DAY was about a month ago and the count goes on. Remarkably, to me, most state residents are blithily unconcerned that my vote is potentially not secret.
Compounding voting issues, “nice people” from a certain BIG TECH icon decided to help administer government run elections by infusing cash to help the process. Semi-Privatization of the government election process was actually accepted by cities and mayors across America. We’ve come a long way since great-grandpa and his staff must have struggled without outside help when the city had 10,000 LESS in its population. And, of course, no computers.
Claims of election fraud are not new. A great story of cheating is told in “The Great McGinty”, a 1940 movie. I highly recommend it. It is filmed in black and white for my more sensitive grandchildren. 2020 of course is a year onto its own with allegations of election improprieties. And, not on a small local scale such as during my youth or even on city/state levels in McGinty. Now, it is national. Extreme voices are loud over blanket mailing of ballots, harvesting, yes/no on voter ID, and tech money in conducting elections. As with the “nice” person helping with an absentee voter in 1960, many of 2020 inovations don’t always feel right. Except now they are on a much bigger scale. And, most importantly, grumbling about the process is by a losing candidate who is most charitably described as paranoid. Yet, that paranoia was also fed by accusations of a stolen 2016 election.
Register to vote. City official keeps an up to date voter list. Take the time and go to a poll; been seen; have your name checked off the list; vote during a reasonably expanded window of access if need be; have legitimate absentee voting; ensure a secret ballot, and count the vote in a timely manner. All the ever changing rules supposedly intended to expand voting seem to needlessly raise suspicions. Suspicion tends to undermine the integrity of all votes. An established process, done correctly and consistently, year after year still sounds good to Papa.