The American system of elections is broken, and even Democrats are beginning to acknowledge it.
On June 9, Rep. Ro Khanna, one of the most radical members of the Democratic Party, tweeted, "A close friend of mine is cancelling his voter registration today. He is convinced Spencer Pratt was robbed of the election. I explained to him that in California we count absentees first (which skew older and more conservative) and election day voters are younger and more liberal."
Matt Taibbi, no friend of Donald Trump and the Republicans, is simply aghast at what's happening in California. Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist, was a distant third in the recent race for Los Angeles mayor. On June 2, she gave what sounded for all the world like a concession speech.
"After explaining all the reasons she might not have delivered for 'our gay and trans siblings,' Raman collapsed in tears," writes Taibbi. “I hope you know,” she said, hand over heart, “that everything, every person in this room is fighting for in this campaign has been about building a city that’s worthy of you!”
Between June 3 and June 9, Raman went from 79,133 votes to 229,576, or a gain of 150,443 votes. Republican Spencer Pratt gained 92,304 votes. While it's true that most votes cast on election night are Republican, "for Raman to go from nearly being doubled up by Bass last week to beating her by almost 15,000 mail-in votes since election night is very hard to understand," writes Taibbi.
I'm not going to argue with those who attribute hundreds of thousands of Democratic votes to some kind of fraud. If you want to believe in fairy tales, go ahead. It would be beyond unprecedented for that to have happened, and if you know anything about the history of voter fraud in this country, you know that it's just not possible.
Both sides watch the ballot counting too closely for that to happen. Even in deep blue counties like Cook in Illinois and King in Washington state, there are Republicans who count the ballots right alongside Democrats. Unless you believe some Republicans are paid off or traitors, the kind of fraud that would see hundreds of thousands of votes disappear or be added to the Democrats' total is non-existent.
To secretly manufacture or disappear hundreds of thousands of votes without getting caught would require a massive, flawless conspiracy involving hundreds of low-level workers, election officials, and observers from both parties. Historically and logistically, the kind of widespread, outcome-altering fraud required to swing a major city election simply doesn't happen.
It might be politically convenient to claim an election was fraudulent, but the cold, hard reality and the facts tell a different story. My statements align with the consensus of election security experts, auditors, and political scientists from across the country.
As for voting by illegals, I'm sure it happens, but not on a scale that would tip a statewide or national election. Again, the GOP poll watchers would have had to have been bought off or fallen asleep for any large numbers of illegals to have cast a ballot.
And that's the first and last I will ever say about voter fraud, since most of you vehemently disagree, and nothing I write will change your minds.
This is not to say that the way we conduct our elections isn't stupid and ludicrous. In fact, we have lost our way. Ostensibly, the pandemic is responsible for many of the most objectionable practices in use today, and not just in California. It's not just absentee ballots and the idea that you don't need an excuse to cast one. Mail-in voting may be easier, but just because it's easier doesn't make it better.
For comparison, let's look at how France counts its ballots.
France’s electoral system is highly centralized and uniform, and the process moves predictably through a few specific stages:
The final polling stations close at 8 p.m. in major cities (smaller towns close at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.). Instantly, French media networks broadcast highly accurate projections based on sample precincts that have already finished counting.
From 8-10 p.m., ballots are counted by hand directly at the local polling stations by citizen volunteers. Because voters only select a single piece of paper for a single office (no long ballots with local initiatives or multiple down-ballot races), counting is rapid.
From 10 p.m. to midnight, local results are continuously transmitted directly to the Ministry of the Interior, which updates the official tally in real-time. The counted percentage quickly climbs past 90% during this window.
By the next morning, the remaining sliver of votes — usually from isolated rural areas or citizens voting at overseas embassies — trickles in, completing the final consolidated 100% tally.
France largely banned mail-in voting in 1975 to prevent fraud. Except for a tiny fraction of proxy votes from shut-ins or prison inmates, everyone votes in person on Sunday, using physical paper ballots. There are no mail-in signatures to verify, cure, or wait on.
Also for our VIPs: The Man Who Co-Founded Wikipedia Has Been Banned for Life. Here's Why.
Germany uses mail-in ballots, but the procedure is far different from that in the U.S. Mail-in voting is incredibly popular in Germany, often accounting for 40% to 50% of the total vote. However, by law, all mail-in ballots must be physically received by the local election offices before 6 p.m. on Election Day. There is no waiting around for postmarks or a "curing" period for signatures over the subsequent days.
While in-person votes are counted at the standard polling places, separate, dedicated mail-in counting boards open and process the mail-in envelopes at the exact same time.
On average, Germany counts 45-47 million paper ballots for each federal election. The results are known in a few hours.
The big advantage for Germany and France is that the election machinery is entirely in the hands of the federal government. There aren't 50 different ways to count the ballots, different ways to cast a ballot, and different procedures to count the votes.
We don't need to change much in our system. Just change it back to the way it was before the pandemic. Make mail-in ballots only for absentees, as they used to be. No more "ballot harvesting." And for Pete's sake, require a valid ID.
Those suggestions will begin restoring trust and confidence in our elections. Not because they will help stop imaginary voter fraud, but because people need to believe that their vote will be counted and the results can be believed.
