Pundits have been working feverishly to find out why the anticipated red wave tricked into a red ripple. The main reason is because Democratic turnout, which is normally abysmal in an off-year where a Democrat holds the White House, was relatively high this year.
Certainly, Democrats being motivated by the U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision and their visceral distaste for former President Donald Trump were important factors, but of equal significance and often overlooked is the increased early and mail-in voting that Democrats have used to their advantage.
It was common knowledge among operatives of both parties that Democratic voters traditionally were the lazier voters in the off-years.
That’s because the Democratic coalition relies so heavily on young voters, single women, and minorities. Younger people tend to be more detached. Many are away in college, not near their hometowns.
Married women, who are more likely to be Republican than single women, have always been far more likely to vote than their single counterparts.
Voters who are members of minority protected classes tend to fall into the lower socio-economic strata who cast ballots less than high income voters.
So, counting on these Democratic voters to show up on a single Election Day was a heavy lift for the Democratic machine, unless these individuals were part of an organized group, such as a labor union.
But turnout of these groups are increasing markedly due to the recent ability to choose one of several days in which to cast a vote or simply to mail-in one’s vote.
Mail-in voting also gives Democratic operatives the opportunity to engage in ballot harvesting — some of it legal and some of it not.
Party coordinators can knock on doors in high density housing complexes or nursing homes, help Democratic voters fill out their ballots, and take them with them to the nearby drop-box.
A panel of independent U.S. voter monitors would never countenance such intimidation or lack of custody chains in a third world election, yet it is happening here in several states.
As a Republican, this writer doesn't like seeing more Democrats casting ballots than voters in his party. However, as an American, this writer wants to maximize the ability of every American to vote, regardless of the political outcome. But — that must be conditioned on us being able to verify that the voting process itself is secure.
Florida, and now Georgia, have been able to do this successfully.
Expanded mail in voting is fine, as long as voter identification comes with the package.
Those mailing-in ballots in Florida must provide a photo ID or the last four digits of your Social Security numbers. That’s a fine compromise since it allows for expanded voting with security intact.
That’s important as we have seen signature verification requirements eviscerated over the past several years, especially since the pandemic (often illegally, as we as the case in Michigan where the secretary of state unilaterally gave guidance for curing signature defects ).
An experiment by Victor Joecks, a journalist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, illustrated the potential for fraud, as eight of the nine bogus signatures he submitted to the board of elections were accepted as valid.
We must also prohibit the mass mailing of ballots regardless of whether they were even requested. This was done unilaterally by various secretaries of state in 2020.
Efforts to purge the rolls of voters who are deceased, have moved, or are here illegally have been thwarted in many states and would be prohibited under the Democrats infamous H.R.1 proposed legislation.
Democrats have been willing to overlook the problems associated with mass mailing of ballots, the use of ballot harvesting and the limiting of signature verification because the current flawed system is working for them.
The extraordinary turnout of their base in these past midterms are proof enough.
Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a NYS Assemblyman, and host of "The Steve Levy Radio Show." He is the author of "Solutions to America's Problems" and "Bias in the Media." www.SteveLevy.info, Twitter @SteveLevyNY, steve@commonsensestrategies.com. Read Steve Levy's Reports — More Here.
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