As Voter ID Goes, so Goes Election Integrity

As Voter ID Goes, so Goes Election Integrity
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
April 16, 2020

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste.  ...it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” -- Rahm Emanuel

Ralph Northam, the Democrat governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia has signed into law the repeal of the voter identification laws and extending the early voting period to 45 days out from Election Day.

Voting is one of the most fundamental rights the citizenry of the United States has, and it must be preserved, protected, and defended by maintaining its integrity, purity, and validity so every legal vote is counted and every voter has confidence in the system. Without the protections, integrity, and confidence, we may as well stop calling ourselves a republic and a representative form of government, for it will all be a scam and a sham. Voters should demand the strictest possible measures be taken to protect the sanctity of their votes, for without that, our own votes become meaningless and valueless.

For those who continue to claim voter ID on its face is racist and economically exploitative, they could not be more wrong. States are not only making identifications free, in many cases, they are providing mobile ID units that will go to people who can’t go to them. Just imagine, a person without any form of identification doesn’t drive a car, have a credit card, a bank account, or a legal place to live. As for the racism aspect, is it racist to ask for identification in the following circumstances:


Apply for a mortgage or lease
Apply for a credit card in a store
Apply for a passport
Apply for a marriage license
Apply for a business license
Apply for a liquor license
Apply for a law/medical license
Apply for a hunting and fishing license
Adopt a child or pet
Attend college
Attend political rallies and conventions
Attend an R-rated movie
Buy/sell a house
Buy/sell a vehicle
Buy/sell alcohol
Buy tobacco
Buy travelers checks
Buy a firearm
Buy/sell real estate
Buy/contract for a cell phone
Buy lottery tickets; collect winnings
Buy/sell stock, securities, commodities, bonds
Collect signatures on a ballot petition
Collect casino winnings; enter a casino
Driver’s license
Donating blood
Donating organs
Entering government buildings
Entering the United States
Entering a bar
Entering many non government buildings
Flying an airplane; getting a pilot’s license
Flying on an airplane
Getting employment
Getting married
Go to a doctor/hospital
Make a bank deposit or withdrawal
Open a bank account - savings, checking
Open a business
Pick up a prescription
Pick up packages at the post office/UPS, etc.
Pick up tickets at will call - sports/entertainment
Pick up a child at school in person - non-parent
Purchase adult themed material
Register with Selective Services
Rent an apartment
Rent a vehicle
Rent a hotel room/Airbnb
Use a credit card
Rent a post office box
Return merchandise
Register to vote
Run for public office
Receive Social Security
Receive food stamps/welfare
Sign up for organization memberships
Sign a petition putting a candidate on a ballot
Sign up to be a designated driver for a free non-alcoholic beverage at a ball game/concert
Take the SAT/LSAT/MCAT/GRE - standardized testing
Receiving a copyright or patent
Write a check
Visit some dormitories
Visit an embassy
Visit someone in jail
Sign up for utilities
Sign up for cable
Getting a death certificate
Getting copies of most court documents

 No doubt there are others, but if identification is mandatory for the aforementioned activities, for something as sacrosanct as the precious vote, requiring ID is a no-brainer. A no-brainer is exactly what Northam and any other governor is, for thinking he or she is doing anyone a service. The only beneficiaries are liars, crooks, illegal aliens, and election thieves. Rhetorical question: has anyone heard a Republican governor endorse such a proposal?

It is Democrat governors and other Democrat elected officials supporting the secession of voter identification laws to pave a smoother path allowing illegals to vote, allowing non-citizens to vote, allowing imprisoned felons to vote, allowing people to vote multiple times in multiple jurisdictions, and even allowing for the dead to vote. There are already jurisdictions allowing legal residents, yet non-citizens, to vote in local elections. This is patently wrong. One case of voter fraud is one too many.

In a push for voting by mail, voting online, or allowing all voters to vote by absentee ballot, the potential for fraud and stolen elections will only rise exponentially, much to the detriment of honest voters from all parties. The state of Oregon already employs voting by mail as its sole form of casting a ballot. There are so many ways that can go wrong. Mail “conveniently” gets lost, mail gets stolen, there are no ID requirements, no proof the voter named is the voter casting the ballot, and there is no proof the ballot isn’t being cast under duress. If the ballot safely reaches its assigned destination, what guarantee that vote will be counted? The same can easily be said of absentee ballots which have been cast for decades around the country. Yes, a modicum of faith is required here. Such ballots would pile up for days, even weeks before Election Day. Who is overseeing the ballots? Every ballot counted by hand should be done so under zealous supervision by members of any party that has a candidate on a given ballot - district by district, county by county (boroughs in Alaska and parishes in Louisiana) or state by state.

Another problem with voting by mail - ballot or vote harvesting. This is the most dangerous practice of volunteers, or even paid campaign workers, collecting absentee and/or mail-in ballots and hopefully submitting them to the appropriate place. Think of the number of ways this can go sideways. A harvester could make assumptions about a voter and dispose of that ballot; or just as easily open them, reseal or put in another official envelope (extras should be easy enough to procure) and properly submit, while once again tossing the ones with which the harvester does not agree. Harvesting could take place in cemeteries, among names not yet purged from the voting rolls, or filed by illegals or underage people under the names of the same “voters.” Overall, not a fan of voting by mail.

Absentee voting is also suspect for the same reasons, but is necessary for the military and out of town college students, but very few others. In 2018, 8.2 percent of absentee ballots were disqualified due to the inability to properly identify the voter. Even in this day of Coronavirus, if people can go to the supermarket, they can go to the polling places. And there should be more of them. Voting for legal citizens should be made simpler, and having a form of government issued identification would actually make voting easier, not more challenging.

This is not paranoia. After all, the Democrats are the leading supporters of these plans for voting sans ID, voting by mail, ballot harvesting, ending the Electoral College in violation of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, and even calling for lowering the voting age to 16. After all, with massive indoctrination besetting the public school system of the United States, convincing a 16 year old to vote for socialist agendas like that which Senator Bernie Sanders continues to spew even after dropping his 2020 presidential bid, is not difficult. After all, the Sanders campaign attracted the youngest of voters.

The liberal Democrat socialist progressives have been calling for the 12th Amendment to be repealed, thus ending the Electoral College, since before the 2016 race; probably in full throat since Bush-Gore in 2000. Repealing the 12th Amendment would be more than just a little deleterious to the electoral system in the United States. Eliminating it, and relying upon the popular vote only, all the Democrats would need to do is campaign in the big cities on the two coasts - New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Throw in Chicago, Detroit, maybe Houston and St. Louis, and a popular vote victory can be had for the Democrats by entering eight to twelve states.

Look at the popular vote in 2016:

National Vote

Clinton 65,853,516 48.18 percent
Trump 62,984,825 46.09 percent

Clinton wins by        2,868,691 2.09 percent

Now look at California

Clinton 8,753,788
Trump 4,483,810

Clinton wins by       4,269,978

The point of this little mathematical exercise is to demonstrate that without California, Clinton does not win the popular vote. In fact, taken one step further, Clinton’s California popular vote accounted for 13.3 percent of her total popular vote and Trump’s California popular vote represented only 7.1 percent of his national popular vote. Trump’s votes were more evenly distributed than Clinton’s, thus another reason the Democrats wish to repeal the 12th Amendment, and yet another reason to maintain and protect it.

As for voting online? That’s an even bigger joke. How many ways will elections be hacked? Consider all the corporate hackings that occur. Or the hacking of credit card information or medical records. Too many moving parts, not enough protection.

While there is little issue with early voting, again, in person and with identification, 45 days, as is  now the case in Virginia, is too far out from Election Day. Suppose an 11th hour surprise hits the papers a week before the election and a voter wants to change his or her vote? Tough luck. Or if a candidate dies or is disqualified? Again, tough luck. It is to the voter’s advantage to vote as close to, if not actually on, Election Day. That way voters can make their most informed decision before casting their ballots. An intelligent electorate is the best electorate.

Voters must have confidence in the electoral process or it is worthless and the United States becomes Haiti, Iran, or Russia. As it is, only about 50 percent of registered voters cast ballots, and that’s during a presidential election year. Midterm and off-year elections produce a much smaller participation rate, making those votes count even more. Every American citizen who is registered to vote, should vote on Election Day - with a valid, government issued form of identification. And every vote cast must include a paper trail - a receipt denoting for whom each voter cast his or her ballot. Without such protections, G-d help the Republic.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.