Letter: This is submitted as a rebuttal to Monday’s My Turn column on voting rights. It must be challenged.
Voting is a right of citizenship. States accept voting registrations that affirm citizenship and age of the registered voters. Once registered, you cannot be removed from voter lists except for specific reasons such as moving from the jurisdiction, death, or conviction of certain crimes. When you vote, in person or by mail, your name is checked against the registration files and if matched, generally your vote is accepted and only once per election. If an issue arises, address, signature, or other irregularity, the ballot is not counted until the issue is resolved, or you are given a provisional ballot, not counted unless the issue is resolved.
These are the basic processes followed in all states. The last election in 2020 was analyzed and audited in many states, and no issues of significant fraud were noted.
The only few individual cases of fraud proven were GOP voters voting for relatives. There were, however, many instances of hours long lines in minority voter districts while few were noted in mainly white districts. Since voting day is a work day, cutting voting outlets and causing long lines, is a significant voter restriction in itself. This is why mail-in voting became significant as it prevents this type of voter suppression.
The mail-in votes are checked against registrations the same as in-person votes. Many states implement a voter ID requirement for in-person voting but since there is a registration process already done, this is redundant. Maybe in one in a million cases someone may show up who is not the voter, (as in the GOP voter who tried to show up as his son and was busted), and try to vote. At worse case, that vote might be counted, but that is one vote out of millions. No one has ever been proven to have tried to vote multiple times for many voters, either by mail or in person as the process is too cumbersome and too easily identified by registration and election officials. There has never been a recent proven case of widespread voter fraud in the country.
Due to this truth, voter suppression is being used against this imagined voter or vote fraud. Making registration more difficult, removing voters from rolls, minimizing drop boxes, limiting polling places, outlawing mail in voting, all are being used in GOP controlled states to make it more difficult to vote. The GOP didn’t even have a platform to run on in 2020 because their only agenda is to please their donors with tax cuts. They have admitted on video if more people vote, they will lose, because they offer nothing in the form of governing or making the country better for its citizens. Their only option is to limit minority voters who tend to vote for Democrats so their own smaller number of voters can thus swing the election.
Voting in the U.S. is fair and safe under current laws and rules. These laws should be the same in every jurisdiction and state as we are all citizens of the same country. Where you live should not determine whether you can vote easily or not. This is why a fair voting act is being addressed in Congress, to codify certain basic requirements so each person has the same ability to vote, no matter where they live. Again, there is no proof anything was awry in the 2020 election to cause the voter suppression and election manipulation laws being passed in many GOP controlled states. They just lost due to more votes against them, and want to try to see this doesn’t happen again by limiting who can vote, how they can vote, where they can vote, and as a last resort, if they don’t like the outcome, can have their legislature toss out the will of the voters, and declare their own “winner.” This is not democracy. Voter suppression and election manipulation is the true election crime being pushed in this country. We must have fair and equal standards and opportunity to vote not matter where we live.
Stan Chraminski is a resident of Kailua-Kona