Democrats
have shamelessly alleged that a massive federal takeover of elections is needed
because of questions some Republicans raised after the 2020 election.
This
is despite the fact that their proposal predates the 2020 election. In fact, it
was designed specifically to double down on false claims that Democrats lost
certain races in 2018 only because of rigged elections.
I
have said it before and I will say it again, evidence-free claims of voter
suppression are as bad as evidence-free claims of voter fraud.
Both
voter fraud and discrimination in voting are illegal.
Any
claim of voter fraud or violations of voting rights should be resolved in our
independent court system with evidence that can stand up in court.
As
I’ve mentioned before, the claim by some Trump supporters that a certain brand
of voting machine switched votes was lifted entirely from the Democrats’ 2004
playbook.
And,
President Trump’s questioning of his loss in Georgia was simply following in
the footsteps of the losing Democrat candidate for governor two years before,
who lost by a much bigger margin.
That
makes me wonder if Democrats’ professed outrage comes from a sincere concern
for democratic norms, or if they are just upset that President Trump stole
their playbook.
If
Democrats really wanted to preserve democratic norms, they would not be
proposing the federal government overturning the current election process in
all 50 states on a purely partisan basis with no attempt to even hear out
Republicans’ legitimate concerns.
This
bill is being called “democracy reform.”
Does
democracy need reform?
I
support the American democratic system.
It
does not need a fundamental rewrite.
It
works. And, it deserves our support.
We
should not denigrate American democracy for short term political gain.
President
Trump’s candidacy in 2016 brought many Americans to the polls who had not voted
recently, and there was record turnout.
In
2020, turnout broke the record yet again, with President Biden winning this
time.
In
the 2021 elections, there was unusually high turnout for off-year elections to
the benefit of Republicans and conservatives.
Democrats
accuse Republicans of wanting to keep people from voting.
Why
would we when we have been very successful in many large turnout elections
recently.
Plus,
have you seen the polls lately?
Let’s
stop casting doubt on American elections.
Stop
casting aspersions on common sense election security measures like voter ID,
supported by Americans of all backgrounds.
Let’s
work together to boost the confidence of all Americans in our elections.
Let’s
start by rejecting claims that the only way the other party can win is by
rigging an election.
Let’s
retire the short term strategy of falsely claiming that one of the two parties
is a threat to democracy. That’s undemocratic.
This
kind of rhetoric damages civil society and erodes faith in our democracy.
