Wednesday afternoon I voted, early, folding my partisan cheat sheet, jamming it in my pocket, and strolling out my front door, turning right. Taking another right at the corner, and over to the Northbrook Village Hall, midblock.
Easy-peasy. In many nations, citizens can't vote at all, or only have sham elections. In the United States of America, our votes still matter, still carry significance and can lead to changes in policy and values. We've witnessed that, big time, in the whipsaw of national elections. Bill Clinton. George W. Bush. Barack Obama. Donald Trump. Joe Biden. Donald Trump redux.
Line up behind whomever you please. But is there anyone who can say there isn't a difference between electing one of these men or the other? (Actually yes, my viva la revolution pals who are so lost in lefty dogma they miss subtle differences, like one president trying to give millions of Americans health insurance and another trying to pluck them off the street and deport them because their papers aren't in order).
To claim otherwise, to call elections "rigged" based on nothing but hurt feelings —"Ooh, I didn't win; somebody must have cheated because I ALWAYS win!" — is to insult the core of our national identity.
Many do just that. Many Americans don't vote at all. Some 90 million sat out the last presidential election, 36% of eligible voters. Thanks guys. Of course, I'm assuming those with better things to do would have saved the day. Maybe if they got off the couch and did their patriotic duty, Trump would have won ever more bigly. My faith in the electorate is at a low ebb.
As for the politicians ... I scanned my cheat sheet as I walked over. For a big shot major metro newspaper columnist such as myself, voting is also personal. I've broken bread with eight different candidates on the ballot at various points over the years. Quite a lot really. Some have sulked off, stung by something I'd written. I voted for them anyway, even though I don't like them personally. They still seem like they're doing their jobs.
"I figure, might as well vote while I still can," I joked to an election judge. It was supposed to be a joke, though it isn't very funny.
The Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy organization, has a page called "Timeline of the Trump Administration’s Efforts to Undermine Elections." It begins:
"In 2025, a new threat to free and fair elections emerged: the federal government."
"Since day one of his second term, the Trump administration has attempted to rewrite election rules to burden voters and usurp control of election systems, targeted and threatened election officials and others who keep elections free and fair, supported people who undermine election administration, and retreated from the federal government’s role of protecting voters and the electoral process."
To continue reading, click here.
Good morning! Before getting to my question, I want to say that today's EGD sends chills down my spine. This sentence especially; "In 2025, a new threat to free and fair elections emerged: the federal government." I am aware of the constantly low turnouts, and that alone is awful. Citizens here are asked to do two things; vote and maybe go to jury duty, both of which (as you point out) are not available in so many places. People should realize that casting that ballot is important in so many ways, lease of which is the future of the country, thinking about my grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I also voted yesterday, we live in Frankfort Township. Get there, check in, verify name on tablet, get ballot, vote and leave. I was surprised that the judge didn't ask for ID just to make sure we were whom we said we were. A judge told my wife that in Illinois, showing ID is not necessary. Assuming the judge was correct, what do you think of that? Again, I don't want suppression in any form.
Showing an ID isn't necessary. But communicating your name is, and showing an ID seemed the easiest way to do that. What is required is that your signature matches the one on file.
DeleteThe fools who say there's no difference between them are the ones who can't figure out that perfect is the enemy of good!
ReplyDeleteI made my choices by looking at the overall effect each of them will have, plus in a few races, I was voting against someone, not really for another one, such as the races for Cook County Assessor & county board president, where I flat out hate the incumbents!
The current assessor is incompetent & kept on many of the rotten hacks his 1000% corrupt predecessor hired & the current county board president never met a tax she couldn't create new or raise even higher! She's also 79 years old & we need to get rid of these old farts that are obsessed with power & just can't give it up & I'm 76, so I know old farts very well!
I had this experience after casting my 2024 presidential election ballot here in Lancaster, PA. After my paper ballot was scanned, I walked outside, and noticed that one of the political parties had an assortment of candies on their table, including red-licorice Twizzlers. I haven’t had them in years, and asked if I could take a pack, which of course was OK. But then a gentleman standing beside the table walked over with a grave look and put his hand on my shoulder. He leaned in and practically whispered: “I just want to ask you one question. Where do you come out on the side of black versus …” (And here I’m thinking … Oh God, I don’t need this) “… red licorice.” We shared a good laugh and shook hands.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth ... red licorice, every time.
Red Vines are far better than strawberry Twizzlers.
DeleteBut nothing beats Chocolate Twizzlers, which can be very hard to find!
Be careful...sometimes the chocolate Twizzlers get mixed in with the black licorice, because inattentive clerks and stockers think they're black, instead of brown. Our black kitty was really dark chocolate brown, and you could tell the difference when she was in the sunlight.
DeleteBought chocolate Twizzlers by mistake, at Christmastime, and my wife had a fit. According to her, if it ain't black, then it ain't licorice. Learned my lesson the hard way. She's right. Licorice is black. And only black. Like blue jeans are only blue. Red blue jeans? No such animal!
I just buy the packages of Chocolate Twizzlers when i can find them. No way any black ones are mixed into them.
DeleteYou mention “showing a voter I.D.” But that is NOT required in Illinois. In fact, election workers and judges cannot ask you for that! It is a way bad people discourage people from voting. I never take an ID with me to the polls.
ReplyDeleteI'm no MAGA fan at all, but note that we do need to show id's for many other things. Is that really an outrageous request?
DeleteYes, when the lazies couldn't bother to vote, let them cry out when their gov't insur. discount dried up. Then of course as NS says, some who didn't vote could be maga too.
DeleteViewer: Not outrageous; disingenuous. When your FOID card is good for identification, but your college ID isn't, that's skewing who can vote toward a certain demographic. IDs are an outrageous request when you're using it to rig the system. Which MAGA is. And if you carry water for that, you may be functionally a MAGA fan, or a MAGA supporter anyway, and not even know it, which is par for the course.
DeleteI see what you mean. Didn't know that about the FOID card.
Delete"we do need to show id's for many other things."
DeleteSorry to pile on, but voting is not AT ALL like "many other things." It is an essential right in the U. S., as our host notes. None of the amendments extending that right to previously excluded groups say anything about requiring a photo I.D. As NS also notes, requiring IDs is outrageous precisely because the "freedom" party wants to limit the number of votes from the "wrong" people. Based on a bullshit argument that voter fraud is a significant problem, which it simply isn't.
This is an excellent and chilling column.
Fine column, Mr. S. Another good one is in today's paper from S.E. Cupp. How convenient that Trump's sons are invested in drone companies. A longer conflict can certainly help their bottom line. In the meantime, what happened to insurance assistance on ACA that Repubs were to work on? And what are the hapless Dems up to? By the way, you can call your county and get mail in ballots, Mr. S. Even more convenient.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that 36% of the electorate sitting out the last election is discouraging, I don't think that it is fair to ascribe nonparticipation as indolence. The unfortunate circumstance of our electoral college system means that many voters in solid blue/red states know that their votes are essentially meaningless in the presidential election. Should we vote if only to remind our politicians of our power? Sure. But in reality only those voters in purple states really needed to take the time to go to ballot box to assert their power and, in a parallel universe, avoid the stain of this presidential term.
ReplyDeleteJason, I really do understand that argument and the frustration some feel. Heck - I'm in Chicago, IL - can't get more party-dominated than here! But even as someone who leans left, I detest the gerrymandered districts here. But there are MANY positions down the ballot from the big attention-getters at the federal level where a shockingly small number of votes can sway an election. The critical importance of the judicial elections is one. One can skip the seats that are locked in by the 'other' party but still should get informed about the seats lower on the ballot and vote them. It's the only way things could eventually get better.
DeleteOutstanding! 36% not voting. Obscene. This country really asks so little of us. The least we can do is vote to keep what we have. Sending your column to everyone I know
ReplyDeleteI’ve been getting a mail-in ballot the last few years. I like to have it in front of me, read through endorsements, look everyone up (even judges and MSD candidates) and take my time. Then I take it over and drop it off when they open polling places for early voting. Of course I check the County Clerk’s website a few days later to make sure it has arrived. Couldn’t be any easier.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your writing. I would only add, while I agree election integrity to be of the utmost importance, it makes your job, the job of the press, even more critical.
ReplyDeleteVoted by mail several weeks ago. Good thing I did, because with all the negative attack ads I've seen in the run-up to next Tuesday I might not have bothered. Especially disturbing are the ads from Raja and Stratton accusing each other of taking money for the same sources.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a way to do something about negative attack ads, but I'm afraid that there isn't.