Looking Ahead: The New Elections Environment

 We have just come through one of the ugliest post-election periods in American history.  Donald Trump, who spent the past four years of his Presidency courting the far-right wing of the Republican Party, lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.  Instead of accepting his loss, he spent the next two months complaining that he had won in a landslide, that the election had been rigged against him, and that multiple states had committed election fraud to keep him from a second term.  He went to court multiple times to challenge state elections and lost every time.  Then, when the House of Representatives met to confirm the election results, he instigated an attack on the U.S. Capitol that took five lives and brought into sharp focus the deep racial and class animosities that had helped put him into office.

            Joe Biden will soon be inaugurated and will have the threat of insurgency as yet another concern that will likely distract the nation from ending the corona virus pandemic and from responding to the growing economic and social crises that the pandemic has generated.  Mistruths about the election—which have activated a national network of right-wing extremists—will make it difficult to find common ground.

            For the record, I do not believe that the 2020 presidential election was rigged in any way.  That said, I do think that, in recent years, the election process has adapted, in part, to the availability of new technologies and, in part, to social changes as the Information Society has matured.  The pandemic spurred on those changes as States sought to ensure effective voter access in a time of social distancing.  In response, States provided greater mail-in balloting, early voting, and use of newer voting machines as examples. 

These changes are valid, to be sure.  However, the misinformation around the 2020 election have created voter distrust in the system, which continues to fuel a backlash.  Looking ahead, we need to build public confidence in both the social value and the operational validity of this new voting model that reflects social and technological changes that will be with us for many years to come.

            While there is no need to analyze the voting processes in each state to look for widespread fraud, I do think that the public interest would be well-served if President Biden would appoint a commission to look at the new election environment and identify best practices that States can use to ensure effective access to voting for all and allow the public to have full trust in the election process.  The goal is not to reject these innovations, but to educate the public and give voters in all states confidence that the process is valid and to protect the rights of all voters.  Some items to consider:

·      The issue of “gerrymandering.”  The Commission should look at how states determine their electoral districts and identify ways to best organize districts that avoid gerrymandering, ensure that all citizens have equal opportunity to have their voices heard, and ensure that districts are not gerrymandered to artificially create an advantage for any one party.  Gerrymandering remains an important issue; the public needs shared guidelines for how to define a voting district in a way that promotes fair access by citizens.

·      Mail-in Ballots.  This voting method was especially popular in 2020 due to the corona virus pandemic, which made people reluctant to stand in long lines to vote. The dramatic acceptance of this voting method caused many to be suspicious of the process.  The Commission should look at how different States organized mail-in balloting and recommend to the States models that proved to be most successful in the 2020 election.  The result would be standards that would build confidence among voters.

·      Early Voting.  This is the other major change in how citizens had access to voting this past year.  The Commission should compare how different States handled early voting and then identify some best practices that States could follow in future elections.  One challenge is to identify practices that will ensure that all voters—regardless of age, race, employment, etc.—have equal and effective access.

·      Record Keeping.  With multiple opportunities for voting—mail-in, early, and on the traditional election day—people will want to be sure that their votes are always counted but also that the process is protected from the idea that people would try to vote more than once.

·      Counting the Vote.  When should mail-in ballots be officially counted?  When should early voting be tabulated and recorded?  How can states best ensure that all votes are recorded and that there are no duplicate or inappropriate votes counted? 

It is essential to ensure that all voters have confidence in the election process—the most sacred of our Constitutional rights—so that they do not fall victim to lies in future elections.