OPINION:
Michael McKenna’s piece instructing Donald Trump and his supporters to just forget about 2020 is maddening (“Time for Trump and GOP to get over 2020 election,” Web, Sept. 29). The point is not to decertify the 2020 results and reinstate Trump as president; the point is to document what happened to ensure that it never happens again.
The ease with which vote counting in six crucial swing states was halted almost simultaneously (only to resume with the dumping of hundreds of thousands of ballots at 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.) is breathtaking. The operation was so slick it leaves any thinking person with the undeniable feeling that this is not the first time this has happened. We all know presidential elections have been rigged in the past (most famously with the union-led ballot stuffing that elected JFK), but 2020’s antics make one wonder how many other, more recent elections have been rigged.
Normally the only prosecutions for vote fraud are for down ballot contests — those for town councils, county commissions, school boards and mayor or district attorney. Those are races in which a few dozen or less than 100 votes can make the difference. Imagine how easy it would be to follow real-estate records to track people who have moved and the obituaries for people who have recently passed — and then just have someone show up and vote for them. Then imagine how much easier it al is when ballots are mailed out without the person requesting one, and when signature verification and chain of custody are not enforced.
The whole point of these election audits is to shed light on the above practices, which now seem commonplace. Requiring that someone make a request for an absentee ballot before receiving one and then using signature verification for that ballot, as well as maintaining chain of custody for transporting absentee and drop-box ballots and requiring picture IDs for in-person voting, are essential.
The argument that the last item is somehow suppression is laughable. A photo ID is required to travel interstate by bus, train or plane; it is required to open a bank account, visit a doctor and even just to drive. It is impossible that anyone who is an American citizen with the accompanying privilege of voting does not have a photo ID.
At any rate, don’t tell me to forget about 2020. The argument that proceeding with these audits will destroy faith in our electoral system is shutting the barn door after the horse has already escaped.
KATHY DEMAY
Raleigh, N.C.
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