Whatever You Think About 2020 Results, Just Follow the Law

Amid passionate arguments over the breaking of election laws, a simple starting point for any concerned citizen is to be aware of election laws in their state, and to check with election officials well before election day to verify that rules are being followed.

Laws vary from state-to-state, so we will cite one example from a battleground (Wisconsin) and one coastal state (New York).

Battleground Example: Wisconsin

Any Wisconsin voter can call their county election court (click for county-by-county list) to ask if it is complying with the law to send out letters according to Wis Stat. 6.86 (2) (b). This requires clerks to send a letter by May 5, 2022 to anyone who: a) is on their “indefinitely confined” voters list, and b) did not vote in the April 5 Spring election.

Asking if this "30-day letter" has been sent or will be sent by May 5 is a legitimate question.

A second legitimate question is when the clerk will remove from the absentee rolls any voter who previously claimed indefinitely confined status, and then, after not voting April 5, does not reply to the 30-day letter. Wisconsin law requires that such a voter either vote in person in the future or file a new absentee ballot request.

Why should voters expend the effort to ensure clerks are following the law? According to this WisPolitics post, 266,000 Wisconsin voters claimed indefinitely confined status for the 2020 election — five times as many as did for the 2016 election.

An obvious explanation is offered by 2020 COVID lockdown orders. But since not even Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has maintained any lockdown order, and even liberal Milwaukee dropped its mask mandate before the recent mayor’s race, it stands to reason the vast majority of those 266,000 no longer need to claim indefinite confinement.

Going further, consider the article’s headline: “Report finds 80% who claimed indefinitely confined status to vote had previously provided IDs.” Simple math would indicate that 20% — presumably close to 40,000 voters — had never provided an ID and thus foiled the state’s Voter ID law (supported by Take Back Action Fund).

Following the law — by which the 266,000 registered absentee voters who sat out this month’s local election must reply to their clerk’s letter, refile an “indefinitely confined” claim, or show up at the polls with an ID — will instill confidence in the results of the November election.

This can only please both sides of the Stolen Election debate — not only the 38% of Trump supporters who don’t believe Biden was legitimately elected in 2020, but also the 38% of Clinton supporters who did not believe Trump was legitimately elected in 2016.

New York: Will Election Clerks Thwart Voters Rejection of No-Excuse Absentee

Likewise, any voter in the State of New York can look up their county, and call their election board to see if they are following the rules that absentee votes only be cast by those who are: too sick to physically make it to the polls, not able to be in their county the day of the vote, being the caregiver of someone who is ill or physically disabled, being a resident or patient of the Veterans Health Administration Hospital, or being detained in jail or prison.

The question in New York is more pointed. Voters were asked to change these rules to allow no-excuse absentee voting, but resoundingly defeated both same-day registration and no-excuse absentee voting.

The question that follows is if the clerk plans to thwart the will of the people and the law by allowing no-excuse absentee voting by just telling voters to check the bureaucratic lined added to the rules, cleverly crafted as “temporary illness includes being unable to appear due to risk of contracting or spreading a communicable disease like COVID-19.”

Even New York admitted in February that that the COVID threat was small enough that a mask mandate was no longer needed, so allowing the no-excuse absentee voting that was rejected at the ballot box is simply a bureaucratic move to thwart the law.

If Election Officials Subvert the Law, Voters Do Not Believe Results

The reason citizens should make sure their election officials are following the law now will instill confidence in election results in November. According to this article even the conservative movie producer liberals hate, Dinesh D'Souza, said the point of his new movie 2000 Mules isn't to convince moviegoers that Joe Biden won and Donald Trump lost and ought to be overturned, only that the reflexive claim that there were no major irregularities is untrue.

There were irregularities, and most can be eliminated. In two straight presidential elections, 38% did not believe the race was won legitimately. Asking local election clerks in your state to follow the law now is a small price to pay for a fair election in which the losing side believes they really lost.