Saturday, April 4, 2026

Let's Set the Record Straight: Voting in the United States is Secure, and All Voters Are Identified

 Having lived, and voted, in six different states, I can't address how the others make sure that those who cast ballots at the polls are the same people who are on the voter registration roll.  In every state where I registered, I had to sign the voter registration roll and provide proof of address to make sure my ballot reflected the correct precinct.  When I showed up at the polls, I had a voter registration card that had been mailed to me, which matched the numbers and information on the roll.  I think a couple of the states where I registered used a bar code that was unique to the voter card they sent, and one state had the signature on the card.  

The problem comes if the signatures don't match.  And there are inherent risks in someone making an attempt to vote with someone elses credentials.  First of all, what would be accomplished?  The likelihood of getting caught is high, the penalties are not fun, and what would be gained by doing something like that.  I always hear the argument that "signatures can be faked."  Yes, but not as easily as photo ID's. 

There are, in fact, so few instances of attempted voter fraud, or instances where more than a small fraction of individuals, a fraction of a percent of the total number of voters, have attempted fraud and succeeded.  

This is the point where those who can't see the facts start complaining about how much voter fraud there is.  But the fact is that states which require photo id's do not  have any more or less voting irregularities than those who don't.  

The fact of the matter is that every voter who casts a ballot in an American election can be identified and their vote can be verified.  What's being pushed is not simple voter ID, it is some kind of proof of citizenship, an accusation made based on another baseless rumor that people here illegally are getting to vote.  That is faactually inaccurate.  It's not happening.  It sounds sinister, ooh, bad government look at how they are winning elections, but the fact of the matter is that there's not enough statisticaal data in this area to bother with changing a system that is working so well.  

See, here's the problem.  Trump sweated out election night in 2020, because ballots were still being counted in some swing states.  That's because one of them, the one that would make the difference, did not start counting mail-in ballots until after the polls closed, and it took a week to count, verify signatures and make sure vote totals were correct.  Trump couldn's comprehend that, because he had a lead in the same day ballots and he just wanted to stop counting at some point during the night and declare  victory.  

But almost half the population had voted by mail, and while it made Trump mad that those votes narrowed his lead significantly as every day passed, and the last 150,000 or so, all legitimately cast and mailed before the election put Biden over the top and in the White House.  He ignorantly and stupidly tried to convince people that these ballots were fraudulent, added in after it was clear he won, when that was not the case at all.  

So now, his attempts to put forth voting reform, sieze ballots and all of that other rhetoric is simply his frustration over the fact that he lost, and he's using the claim that reform is needed to support his lie about those Pennsylvania mail in ballots.  He thinks that if he simply asserts some populist lie that his followers believe,  then it's true.  All that shows is the gullible stupidity of his MAGA base.  

There is not now nor has there been massive voter fraud in the United States, the system we have now works, non-citizens do not vote in elections and when that vote count comes in, it can be trusted. 


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