Election Day - FINALLY!!! (But, don't hold your breath!!!)

 IT IS HERE!!!  (Election Day)

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

FINALLY - it is election day.

Of course, the various analysts have suggested that although today is election day, it might be a while until a winner is known.

So, why is this:

-1.  If you haven’t been paying attention - there is some kind of pandemic growing around.  People have been told to isolate, stay away from crowds and large gatherings.  Thus, in many states, a large bloc of voters has opted to have mail-in ballots (or ‘absentee ballots”).  Of my two special non-driving friends - Rita and Mary - both have opted for the mail-in ballot.  Both of these friends have some health issues and being in a crowd where COVID-19 germs might exist is a “no-go” for these friends.  (I’m sure there are many others that are using the mail-in approach this year.)

-2 But, those mail-in ballots are receiving some negative publicity.  Could voter fraud occur with mail-in ballots?  It could.

Scenario #1:  John and Mary Smith have been married for 69 years.  John has dementia (Alzheimer's) so John and Mary both requested mail-in ballots.  Mary can fill her ballot out on her own, but John is going to need some help.  It might even be that Mary fills out John’s ballot completely and has John sign the form - or even that Mary signs the form for John.  With some couples, they share the same political opinions, but there are other couples where the two have differing views.  If this is the case and John would vote (just for this example) Republican and Mary might vote (for this example) Democratic - but Mary fills out John’s ballot so his choices are really hers.  Okay, one possible ‘fraudulent’ ballot - but it might not be fraudulent!!  I imagine if this went to court, for John and Mary - the case would be thrown out.

Scenario #2: John and Mary Smith live in Senior housing - where the mailboxes are not secure (that is, an employee of the housing unit takes the mail and slides it into the slot).  [Note, this was the process at the dorm - years ago.  From the backside, the mailboxes are all open; although, from the front side, each resident still needed to use his/her key or use a combination to open the mailboxes.

Sam Sneaky is the clerk at the Senior Housing, and Sam likes candidate X.  So, as Sam sees the incoming mail ballots, he knows which of the residents will most likely forget that they requested one - and those ballots he takes aside and fills out and mails them in - all for his candidate X.  

But, in this case, Sam is playing a dangerous game.  Maybe John and Mary aren’t quite remembering such things, but their daughter, Susie, came over to their apartment and helped her parents fill out the request for mail-in ballots.  When the ballots didn’t come (because Sam Sneaky took them), Susie could call the election office to report the ballots didn’t arrive.  The election office could send replacement ballots out - but will be on the lookout for duplicate ballots from John and Mary Smith.  When the two ballots for John Smith and the two from Mary Smith come in, there will be an investigation - and with some reasonable probability, Sam Sneaky will be caught.  

-3 Some states (like Texas) allow “limited ballot” voting and “provisional ballot” voting - where people who have moved but didn’t re-register in time were allowed to vote.  In theory, there could be some fraud there.

-4 Mail-in.  Mail-in ballot-counting can be difficult.  Generally, there are two or three people involved.  You probably would have an election official (officially neutral), a Republican representative, and a Democratic representative to look at each mail-in ballot to verify that the signature is valid.  With a large number of mail-in ballots, this could take time, and with human interaction, errors could occur.

-5 There have been cases on the news, where supporters of one (or the other) mail candidate bribed people with money if they voted for their candidate.  This is illegal but can be hard to catch.  Sam Sneaky still wants his candidate to win, and rounds up 20 homeless people and promises to give them $200 if they vote for his candidate.  Hey - that’s a pretty big deal (you can buy a lot of cheap wine for $200) and he takes them to the polling place and they vote.  When the homeless person leaves he tells Sam Sneaky that he voted for Sam’s candidate.  There is no verification that the homeless person did or didn’t vote for that candidate, so Sam takes the homeless person’s word that he did as directed - and Sam pays him the money.

-6 There are other cases floating around, robo-calls telling people their voter registration is invalid and they can’t vote (the robo-calls go to people registered in the opposite party - who think - “Gee, I can’t vote”).  

-7 And, the bogus information “Because of the volume of voters expected today (November 3rd), that voters of the (just an example) Republican party can vote today, and voters from the other part (in this example, Democratic) can vote tomorrow” - but there will NOT be any place to vote tomorrow!!!

*****

I imagine that election officials, FBI, and State investigative organizations are trying to follow up on tips for fraudulent voting.  That can take a lot of time and effort.  

And, while I talk about “LOVE WINS” there is a lot of hate going around in this election.  Misinformation and half-truths, and outright lies are floating around.  If Candidate X wins, he will <do something you don’t want>; and if candidate Y wins, he will <do something you don’t want>.  As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, there is a “Civil War” brewing on the abortion issue - that is deep and the people and positions are not working on compromises or understanding.  Depending on your viewpoint, if you are a fanatic, you might cross one of the ethical lines because of your strongly held viewpoint.  Because (old logic argument), the “end justifies the means” (that is, unborn children live; or women do have the right to make their own decisions about their bodies).  

For the next two days, I am writing on healing and reconciling a divided nation!!

LOVE WINS!!!

HUGS!!!

Karen