{"id":1882,"date":"2020-06-13T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=1882"},"modified":"2020-06-13T15:38:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T15:38:19","slug":"voting-in-the-time-of-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=1882","title":{"rendered":"VOTING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

VOTING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 – A Public Service Editorial<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

WOAS-FM is an educational-public service station and as such, we tend to stay away from \u2018taking sides\u2019 in political matters.\u00a0 The \u2018educational\u2019 part of our mission includes airing many Public Service Announcements with themes concerning \u2018public wellness\u2019.\u00a0 It is with this intent we reprint the following <\/span><\/i>IN THEIR OPINION <\/span><\/i>from the<\/span> June 5, 2020 Ironwood Daily Globe<\/span><\/i> editorial page.\u00a0 Their source was the <\/span><\/i>Omaha World-Herald<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 We have not read or heard anything that makes a better case for keeping voters safe in the current COVID-19 election cycle:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Public should trust outcome of mail voting<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s be clear:\u00a0 Voter fraud in the United States is rare.\u00a0 No data-supported evidence suggests that it is anything other than extremely unusual.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Study after study since 2000 from a range of sources debunk claims of widespread voter fraud.\u00a0 Arizona State University, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Harvard, the Republican National Lawyers Association and others have conducted analyses that find few instances of such fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Heritage Foundation keeps a database of convictions that the conservative think tank cites as evidence of the \u201cexistence and effect\u201d of voter fraud and to argue against expanded voting by mail.\u00a0 Mostly from this century, but with an odd North Carolina entry from the 1980s, Heritage in four years of work has found 1,285 proven instances of fraud in elections at all levels.\u00a0 That\u2019s 1,285 cases over more than 20 years out of billions of votes cast in national, state, and local elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While Heritage says the database is not comprehensive, even 12,000 out of billions would not be widespread.\u00a0 It\u2019s infinitesimal.\u00a0 The plural of \u2018anecdote\u2019 is not \u201cmassive fraud.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Assertations to the contrary, such as recent tweets from President Donald Trump, whose voter fraud commission was disbanded in 2018 without issuing a report, are not based in fact.\u00a0 Worse, they serve to erode Americans\u2019 confidence in our system and create \u201cdoubts about the legitimacy of the forthcoming election,\u201d says Tom Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania who co-chairs VoteSafe, a bipartisan group calling for safe voting during the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What we all should want is greater participation, the hallmark of a healthy democracy in which citizens have an active stake.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nebraska had such an experience just this month, when it set a record for participation in a primary election despite the coronavirus pandemic,\u00a0 This was achieved by making voting easy.\u00a0 Nebraska\u2019s three most populous counties mailed absentee ballot applications to registered voters, and 85 % of Douglas County\u2019s votes were sent in early.\u00a0 More than two-thirds of the state\u2019s votes were cast by mail.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No one questions the integrity of those results.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s important to understand that the states, not the federal government, determine how elections are conducted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The notion of elections by mail is not new or radical.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Five states – Colorado, Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii – hold elections almost entirely by mail, with proven safeguards in place, along with provisions that allow people to complete ballots at voter service centers if they wish.\u00a0 Ballots are mailed to the homes of registered voters as California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered for November\u2019s election.\u00a0 (Trump has erroneously tweeted that \u201canyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there,\u201d will get one.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Twenty-nine other states, including Nebraska, do not require an excuse for absentee voting.\u00a0 It\u2019s so easy that Nebraskans can download an absentee ballot request from the secretary of state\u2019s website.\u00a0 In addition, Nebraska counties with fewer than 10.000 residents can apply to conduct elections strictly by mail.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0States that vote by mail and allow no-excuse absentee voting have no more evidence of fraud than anywhere else.\u00a0 Heritage’s database, for example, shows eight voter fraud cases since Colorado\u2019s law took effect in 2013.\u00a0 It shows two cases this century in Nebraska.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Voting by mail or easy access to absentee voting is not a partisan conspiracy.\u00a0 Most chief elections officers in the United States are Republicans – 27 of them, with 21 Democrats and two independents holding the remaining positions.\u00a0 Of the states with mail-in voting, four have Republicans overseeing elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t advocate changing Nebraska\u2019s election system.\u00a0 We applaud Secretary of State Robert Evnen and local elections officers for making it easy for Nebraskans to vote in the primary, and we express our confidence that they will take whatever steps are appropriate in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is important both that people vote and that they are confident in the outcome of elections,\u00a0 Our leaders should foster that.\u00a0 They have nothing to fear.,\u00a0 –<\/span> Omaha World-Herald<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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