How to protect our votes in the upcoming election
Commentary by Scott McIntyre | FāVS News
As I kick off this article, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump certainly appear to be headed for a 2020 rematch in the Presidential election. The Associated Press identified them both as the presumptive candidates for their party in March of this year and now, all that’s left to make it final are the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Then, in November, the election will take place and thankfully, we can ALL be assured that the final results will be 100% legitimate … Not!
I’m an evangelical Christian, who voted for President Trump in 2016 and again in 2020, and I’m not writing this to incite Republican outrage at ‘voter fraud’, something that has been a painful part of our culture since the election process of 2020. But I also don’t want people to think that our voting system is completely 100% safe, as I fear that could lead to increased problems down the road.
Children cheat on tests, lie to their parents about all sorts of things and pick on the ‘new kid’ at school when he or she doesn’t quite match up with their expectations. Once they become adults, the opportunity for misbehaving doesn’t slow down as we can break speed limits, cheat a little on our taxes, tell ‘white’ lies to our friends and neighbors when we think we’ll get away with it and be unfaithful in many situations where we promised the opposite.
Voting as flawed as humanity
Humanity, for all its very good attributes, is flawed, and I don’t think anyone could truthfully say that doesn’t describe their life. To conclude that voting is the only area of our existence that completely avoids the failing behavior of humankind seems to be a supposition without much, if any, serious consideration.
So, if there is some illegal or improper activity during our election cycles, it also seems logical to conclude that in a contentious election (Trump vs Biden fit the bill?), the likelihood of something being done wrong in the voting process would increase.
With the near certainty of problems in this extremely important aspect of our culture, what are we to do?
Individually, we must refrain from doing anything that could add to the problems that exist in our voting practice.
Don’t …
- Be critical about someone’s stated choice
- Offer anything to someone to refrain from voting or to vote a certain way
- Post on Social Media a partial truth about any candidate
- Threaten or intimidate someone to vote the way you think they should
- Avoid voting because you think your person can’t win
And here are some things you might consider doing that could serve as positive influence:
- Learn what vote tallying looks like where you live and brainstorm with people in your county about ways to improve the system
- Write to your local government officials and encourage them to evaluate the voting process
- Volunteer to be part of the vote counting system in your county and look for ways to enhance and protect the system
Having the freedom to vote our conscience is something we should cherish as a remarkable liberty. But like anything in this ‘fallen’ world, it needs constant care and consistent concern by the citizens of this great land to stay healthy and thrive.
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
