Election Integrity

When There is a Shadow of a Doubt, Investigate

There is a raging battle going on right now among Democrats over whether this most recent election was free and fair. There are bright and level-headed people on both sides. Please, whatever your take on these events, read the whole essay before deciding that I am a critic of your position. I am not. You have a right to whatever opinion you hold. Please have an open mind regarding others and their opinions. Whether you believe that Harris simply lost, or you believe that there was malfeasance, please read my entire argument.

We have known for a long time that every accusation made by Donald Trump is a confession, and he has been accusing the Democrats of “rigging” for years. He is a cheater and that is no secret. None of his accusations of cheating by Democrats have ever been found to have merit.

In 2020, there was a complaint from the GOP over the integrity of the election, though there were no real problems except the ones caused by GOP attempts to sabotage and suppress the votes.

These complaints were taken seriously and found to be baseless over several recounts and 60 lawsuits.

In this current case there is at least as much reason to investigate. There are numerous discrepancies. The election did not go smoothly. There was intense Russian interference in the form of social media trolling, followed by fake bomb threats. But that is not all. The numbers do not add up, or at least deserve a second look.

We the people humored the GOP in 2020. We have a complaint about the integrity of this election that warrants at least the courtesy we showed them.

The fact that their complaint was a dry hole has no bearing on this current matter.

It is my belief that the entire “stop the steal” was a feint to discredit anyone in 2024 who dare question the election. If asking a valid question makes the asker a conspiracy theorist, or, worse, just like “them” the matter will never be raised officially and will therefore never be laid to rest. If things had been as the GOP believed in 2020 their reaction would have been understandable. The problem began when they refused to drop it when proved wrong.

We must be able to ask the question without being branded a lunatic. The GOP asked and were met with a long and thorough investigation. The crazy part was when they refused to accept the results, not the fact that they doubted the results or asked for a recount.

It is possible that if investigated, the results announced on November 5th would hold up.

Maybe a venal corporate media failed at its most sacred duty and allowed a fire-hose of lies to go unchecked. They normalized felonious old man with dementia and questioned every move of a brilliant and vital candidate who happened to be a Black woman. And that tipped the scales.

Or maybe it was the voter suppression in blue districts. The whole country watched in 2022 when the voter’s rights act was before the senate. But the arcane rules caused it to fail. And many observers warned that the failure was a danger to free and fair elections. And then, with our compromised national attention span, we forgot.

Finally, the explanation could be that the majority of Americans really are stupid, evil, or both. It is not likely, but it is possible.

Why is there no investigation into the events of November 5th? Why no paper recount, really the only way to tell?

Perhaps every election from here on out should be vetted after the fact, and counted twice. If there was no rigging or other impropriety, a recount would quiet the doubts and put the matter to rest.

Or, it could alert us to a grave injustice. Either way it would show us the truth. A thing we should all want.

But, because the leaders of the Democratic Party are willing to virtue signal us into the hands of a dangerous and unfit man, we may never get the chance. A peaceful transfer of power is an absolute necessity in our system. But we must have a general agreement on who that power should be transferred to. The groundswell I am seeing indicates that millions of people think that something went wrong.

We may not get another chance. It may be pretend elections from here on out kids— just like Mother Russia. Once they are seated it will be too late. Time is running out. I say this because it was a veritable campaign promise of Donald J Trump, who is at this moment preparing to return to the White House.

I realize that sham elections go against the rule of law in the United States. But I am not at all convinced that the current crew will respect the rule of law or the constitution that stands behind it. Lip service is cheap. Look at the appointees being announced daily. There is no respect shown to the dignity of the office.

As for me, I am agnostic. There is no way I could possibly know which of these possibilities are true. My purpose is to solve a problem, which is the doubt in the minds of many Americans. The solution is clear.