Arthur Chrenkoff on election reform, Australian style.
Tired of non-citizens enrolling (and voting Democrat (allegedly))? Or counties where more people end up enrolled (and voting) than are actually eligible to vote? Easy – to enrol to vote in Australia you need to present a driver’s licence or a passport or have someone who is already enrolled confirm your identity. This last option potentially opens the door to mischief, since you could make a chain of fraudulent enrolments based on the first, genuine link, but even with that proviso, the Australian system seems to me a lot tighter than the American seemingly free-for-all.
It could hardly be worse.
Before an election, every person on the electoral roll is mailed a little card by the electoral commission with the voter’s details and a unique barcode. To be able to receive a ballot at the polling station you need to either present the card to be scanned or if you have forgotten to bring it with you you need to show a valid ID for your name to be marked on the voters’ list. Failing either, you can query your absence on the electoral roll and lodge a provisional vote, whose validity will be carefully assessed as part of the overall count, but it is a relatively rare occurrence. To an Australian, an argument that requiring an ID to vote is tantamount to “voter suppression” seems pretty ridiculous. Virtually everyone has got some sort of an ID; the tiny remainder can be accommodated separately.
It seems to make sense.
The DFL will fight it to the death.
In Australia people are legally required to vote.
That is a terrible system, it results in politicians valueing each vote equally, while the individuals who cast the votes do not value their votes equally.
In the US, Democrats would love a mandatory voting regime because the people who value their votes the least would be required to vote.
When Liberals obsess over voter turnout, I remind them Kim Jong Un won re-election as Supreme Leader of North Korea with 100% of the vote. It’s not the mechanical act of voting that matters, what matters is the integrity of the entire electoral process from Who Gets To Vote to Who Counts The Votes.
If the aim of elections is wise government, then only voters with a demonstrated history of mature wisdom should be allowed to participate lest the election degenerate into a farce resulting in the election of [insert name of least favorite politician here].
Rather than test every citizen for maturity and wisdom, the Founders relied on simple proxies. Age doesn’t always bring wisdom, but it’s more common in older people than in children. Owning land, having a job, staying out of jail, paying taxes and providing for a family might be other useful proxies for maturity.
On the other end of the spectrum, a person who lacks the ability to complete a simple voter registration card in advance of the election might also be suspected of lacking the maturity to discern between competing visions for the betterment of America, of lacking the motivation to make an investment in civic education, of casting a vote based on name identification or tribal affiliation alone, which is how we end up with politicians like [insert name of least favorite politician here].
Without a valid ID, you cannot:
-Vote
-Drive
-Ride on an airplane
-Check into a hotel
-Get a bank loan
-Apply for most jobs.
Which raises the question, why do Democrats want to prevent minorities and women from voting, driving, flying, traveling, borrowing and working?
Okay….okay….the answer is obvious.
They can fight it to the death. The government has nukes, you know. Too many, but they’re legit.