Stop trashing democratic voting by mail practice

ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.

Perhaps the most seriously wrong-headed and misguided contention in the election of 2020, is the notion that mail-in voting is rife with fraud.

For the umpteenth time, virtually every study has shown that the percentage of voter fraud in the American electoral system is below one-tenth of 1 percent. As Casey Stengel used to say, You can look it up.

Those who purport to believe in such fairy tales, I submit, very simply want to reduce the voting number of us unwashed masses. Yes, I believe that the anti-mail-in voting efforts are tied almost directly to voter suppression.

Some politicians have been caught on audiotape admitting that if too many of “those people” vote, they will lose.

I have long held that if you make something easy for people to do, they will do it. If you make it difficult for them to do it, they won’t. I think recycling programs over the last couple of decades have shown that to be true.

But this problem didn’t just emerge in the 2020 election. Limited democracy and voter disenfranchisement have a long and sordid past in American history.

When the Founding Fathers crafted the U.S. Constitution in 1789, they granted the right to vote only to free, white men who were at least 21 years old and landowners. It was because of public pressure and constitutional amendments over the years that such rights were won for people of color, women and Native Americans.

This is why I don’t appreciate those who insist we strictly follow a constitution adopted in the 18^th century. What has made that document and America itself great is the ability to adapt to changing conditions.

And if we subscribe to the notion of power to the people, we must understand that virtually the only power we everyday stiffs actually have is in voting. More than one million have sent in their votes. Even President Trump does it.

So I have been an enthusiastic supporter of no-excuse absentee balloting and voting by mail for some time. I noted with great satisfaction in the November 2018 general election that Michigan voters by more than a two-thirds majority approved a proposition to make absentee and mail-in voting much easier to do. I’ve never been a fan of forcing the unwashed masses to appear at the polls on a Tuesday, a day most of them have to work, to stand in line and exercise perhaps their most precious right.

So now I believe we are righting a past wrong by making it easy to vote. With the threat of Covid-19, the ability to vote by mail is even more critical. And please dispense with the tired claim that if we can stand in line at Wal-Mart, we can stand in line to vote. Wal-Mart is open 24/7. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

To be sure, I didn’t like the provision for same-day registration, which only makes things more hectic and challenging on Election Day. And I now sincerely believe a law should be passed to permit clerk’s office personnel begin the process of counting and recording the votes a week before the big day.

But I have grown exceedingly weary of those who have somehow been flim-flammed into thinking voting by mail is dangerous or anti-democratic. You guys don’t like it because it lessens the chances of your candidates getting elected.