Voting by mail an even better idea than in bygone days

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

We just received our mail-in ballot for the Nov. 5 general election. My longtime support of voting by mail has been strengthened rather than diminished over the years.

I just can’t see the wisdom of making citizens travel to the polls to make in-person appearances in order to vote. One reason is because general election ballots over the past few years have gotten even more extensive. So it’s an even better idea for people to cast their votes in the friendly confines of home, where they can take their time and think it over rather than feel rushed by the people in line behind them.

Don’t get me wrong. I support those who continue to vote at polling places, but I honestly believe it’s an easier and less stressful process at home.

I have long believed in the old saying that if you want people to do something, make it easy for them to do it. For example, if you want people to recycle, make it easy for them to do by providing curbside services.

Meanwhile, I’ve been seeing a lot of Facebook memes that insist voters show up at the polls instead of by mail. Those who insist on this very simply are being played cynically by the Republican Party in a naked power grab.

The GOP for a long time has opposed efforts to make it easier for us unwashed masses to vote. Republican operatives long have maintained that the opportunity for fraud and getting ballots lost in the mail is too great.

But studies consistently over the years have determined that incidences of fraud are extremely rare, and instances cited by the GOP are anecdotal at best.

It’s so bad that several Republicans have been quoted as publicly stating that if a lot of people are allowed to vote, their candidates won’t win. The lower the turnout, the better the prospects for the GOP.

I have long believed in the “majority rules” system and encouraging the maximum number of people to exercise their right and duty by voting. Though I think the new rules allowing for early voting went too far, I still support efforts to encourage people to vote.

We live in a modern society in which it feels so much like we really have no power, that the powers that be continue to make decisions regardless of how we feel about the issues. Therefore, I believe the only power we unwashed masses have is to vote.

In the last couple of years we’ve seen the will of the people make marijuana legal, restore abortion rights for women and make no excuse mail-in voting legal and accessible. All without the support of the ruling political class.

As the late, great Albert Parsons said in 1886, “Let the will of the people be heard.”