The United States’ system of voting is a mess, but not because of the recent and baseless claims of voter fraud. The truth is that voter fraud in the United States over the last several decades has been recorded as .012 percent.
There is no excuse for voter turnout being less than 99 percent. Regardless of the flaws in the system, if one does not vote, they are literally surrendering their future to the demands of the few. Our founding fathers were in total agreement when they created the first amendment. They believed that the right to vote was the most important right and responsibility of every American.
The Constitution requires each state to establish a safe and secure voting system. This has not been ideal. Some states have rules which make it more difficult to exercise your Constitutional right than others. However, whatever else is involved, whatever it takes, vote. Let us look at the 2016 election to understand how only a few percentage points can decide the outcome of an election in one candidate’s favor.
Three states decided the vote of the Electoral College. A lower Democratic turnout than expected in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin resulted in a win for Trump in all three states. The difference in those three states totaled less than 80,000 votes: less than two percent. Russia’s efforts on social media to discredit Hillary Clinton had a noticeable effect. Ms. Clinton did win the popular vote by about 3,000 ballots.
Another issue that aided Trump’s win in 2016 was a lack of understanding of the importance of every vote.
Thousands of Bernie Sanders supporters believed that he should have been the Democratic nominee. They were angry. They met over the internet and agreed not to vote for Hillary Clinton or Trump. They would vote for a candidate who could not possibly win, Jill Stein. They considered this a protest. What they did was ignore reality and help Trump win the Electoral College.
Once again, “the truth lives here” and this columnist can say that every vote not given to Hillary was a vote for Trump. Just do the math.
Actress Susan Sarandon has been a political activist for a long time. However, she recently made a statement that would be dangerous to our country. She is suggesting that Democratic-leaning voters refrain from voting in November and in 2024.
Mary Trump is Donald Trump’s niece and one of his biggest critics. This is her response to Ms. Sarandon’s suggestion.
“She’s a complete idiot. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about, and if anybody can say with a straight face that the Democrats are the problem, I don’t know what to tell them,” Trump said while appearing on the MeidasTouch Podcast on Thursday.
“She was pretty decent in a couple of movies a couple of decades ago, but politically she’s a moron,” Trump said.
Here is a single example of how important it is to vote.
On November 3, 2020, about 156 million Americans used their first amendment right and mailed in their ballots or went to the polls. An all-time record. More than 81 million of the votes cast went to Joe Biden. However, Trump received a whopping 74 million votes, the most by a loser in history, and likely never to be repeated. If just 10 percent of those who voted for President Biden had not voted, Trump would have been reelected.
Politicians are not to be trusted. They will promise anything to get elected on television. Therefore, take 10 minutes, turn off the boob tube, and research the positions of candidates on your sample ballot. One source is “Real Clear Politics.” There are many more.
It is important to realize that this country does not belong to politicians, it belongs to the people, the voting public.
Op-ed by James Turnage
Sources:
NY Mag: Yes, the Left Should ‘Vote Harder’; by Sam Adler-Bell
Business Insider: Mary Trump calls Susan Sarandon a moron for suggesting it’s pointless to vote for the Democratic Party; by Alia Shoaib
Inset Image Courtesy of Tony Alter‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Ryan Greenberg‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
