Of, By, and For, Part 1

When Abraham Lincoln succinctly defined American democracy as "of the people, by the people, for the people," he was indirectly referring to the one great power Americans had, that no other people at the time could claim: the power freely to elect their leaders.

We the people still have that power, and there has seldom been a time in the history of this nation that we have had more need to use it confidently and wisely.

We now face a ruthless adversary who would reduce our power by denying it to as many of us as possible. He seeks to accomplish this foul act covertly and subtly by targeting communities of voters who are already marginally disenfranchised.

He believes, and there is reason to fear, that he has the means to suppress in-person voting in communities and regions known to be inimical to him.*

There are several ways such an action could be engineered. Intimidation and misinformation about voting requirements and polling places and hours are blatant examples, but voting machine tampering, system hacking, and poll worker espionage are his more likely tools.

The unexpected spread of COVID-19 threw the country into chaos, and had a dire effect on election planning. One outcome of the confusion was the reduction in polling places, which played right into the foe's hands. As an example, consider Kentucky, the home of Archdemon Mitch McConnell, which cut its number of polling places statewide by 80%. That's not a typo. 80%.

One result of such reductions is that some voters may have to travel to vote, creating a barrier to voting for those who lack transportation. Kentucky's Jefferson and Fayette counties, two of the state's most populous, and with the largest African-American populations, were reduced to one polling place each in the June 23 primary.

As if in response to the threat of suppression both counties saw record voter turnout, a sign of hope that the American people understand the importance of voting in a crisis.

Another sign of hope is the increased use of absentee voting. No ballot box, no waiting. Just fill in the ballot, put it in the provided envelope and send it via U. S. Mail to the elections department.

The adversary hates this. He fears absentee balloting because he cannot control it. We must guard it assiduously.

Continued tomorrow.


---Diogenes, 6/25/20


*Several books and articles discuss this threat. I suggest One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy, by Carol Anderson: The Bloomsbury Press, 2018.