Midterm Election Noise Dies Down
The noise leading up to the midterm elections is now behind us. Aren’t you glad that the political survey calls have stopped, as have the pleading for monetary support? There is no more ringing of doorbells from strangers imploring us to cast our votes for a political favorite. The “noise” of the political advertising, often stuffed into our mailboxes, is also behind us.
The noise is understandable, though, for political advantage is dependent upon every precious vote. The wins were experienced on razor-thin margins and some are wishing a few more phone calls were made, a few more doors were knocked on, and more noise was made.
Vote Recount Noise Escalates
The noise, however, didn’t entirely end in the final hours of November 6th. Several races continued the chore of counting votes for days. In fact, Florida is rushing to meet this Thursday’s recount deadline. Supervisor Susan Bucher of Palm Beach County worries her department may not complete the recount in time. Susannah Bryan of the Sun Sentinel notes how both political sides lob insults as Florida’s Broward county votes are recounted. For example, voters were referring to Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snips as they chanted, “Lock her up!”
There’s good reason for the noisy concern. And, it’s not isolated to a few counties in Florida. Close race vote counting, along with the accusatory noise, has been experienced in Arizona and Georgia as well. Vox explains the Arizona, Florida, and Georgia election recounts.
Voter Fraud And Vote Suppression Noise Cranks Up
Tempers have risen over concerns of voter fraud and vote suppression. The McClatchy News Bureau addresses the numerous voting issues surrounding the midterms. The article identifies 14 states struggling with honest and secure voting: California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington. ABC News also reported on the troubling voting concerns of North Dakota’s Native American tribes. That makes 15 states struggling to ensure voting integrity, giving all voters the opportunity to cast their ballots and further ensure they’re counted properly.
The political noise is obviously well founded given the threat of foreign computer hacking and the presence of actual voting interference, in one form or another. Noise should be made! We should be concerned as any tampering or any vote count failure interferes with our democratic voting process. It puts our country’s political governance at risk.
No Noise For Discarded Votes
The vote count concern is real. However, voting interference is experienced in every presidential election without much notice, concern, or noise. Do we simply ignore the facts? Go blind? Become mute?
Every presidential election causes us to set aside around 46% of the ballots cast for a presidential candidate. These ballots are not physically discarded or removed from the election. They all are counted. But they are not translated into electoral votes!
Does Winner-Takes-All Silence Voter Noise?
States adhere to the winner-takes-all approach when translating popular votes into electoral votes. Votes cast for a candidate not winning a state’s plurality simply don’t matter and are not represented in the Electoral College results.
Here’s a fresh example to consider: The 2016 election removed over 63 million votes for the final presidential tally. These votes were NOT represented in the Electoral College results. This is not an anomaly. Over 56 million votes were ignored in 2012 and 57 million votes were ignored in 2008.
This is truly vote suppression!
While we justifiably pay attention and make noise over slim vote margins of mere thousands, sometimes only hundreds, we habitually give up millions of votes in presidential elections. There may be noise about who wins and loses, but those millions of lost (not represented) votes go away without a whisper.
Equal Voice Voting Legitimizes Our Voting Democracy
Equal Voice Voting removes the winner-takes-all aspect. It forces the Electoral College to translate the entire popular vote tally into electoral votes. As I’ve said many times before, the Electoral College is an ingenious system if we remove the shackles and allow it to function as it was intended.
Legitimately counting every vote for a president, making every state matter, is healthy for our democracy. It restores the integrity of our voting process.
Equal Voice Voting Encourages Voter Turnout
This recent midterm election found a significant increase in voter turnout. That’s good. That means voters of all political stripes are more actively engaged than they have been in previous midterms. Because they are, our democratic rights and freedoms are appropriately exercised via completed and counted ballots. Engaged citizens cast their ballots because they knew their votes counted.
If we make every vote count, on a state-by-state basis, that 46% – those millions of voters – will not be disenfranchised. More voters will realize their votes count if we use Equal Voice Voting Their opinions (and values) matter. Our democracy will be once more free to deliver the future our votes demand.
The midterms are behind us. The 2020 elections are ahead of us. Let’s make every vote count in our next presidential election. Tell your friends and relatives about Equal Voice Voting. Share this blog and the website with them. Reach out to your state legislators and let them know you want everyone’s vote to count.
It’s time to make some noise for 2020!