THE POSSIBILITY OF HAVING A DAY OFF TO VOTE IS SCARING THE GOP

…The Senate Leader McConnell is rightly scared of Democratic voters

Voter turn-out in the US is pathetic at about 56% of voting-age Americans.

In a democratic nation, one of the most important issues is for a competent free press to give the voters true and accurate information about the candidates and about the issues to be decided.  The next important item is to have the best turn-out of voters for the leadership to fully understand how the voters actually feel about those candidates and those issues.

Unfortunately, due to the interference of Russia and other nations into American social media, and due to a lying presidential candidate, as well as information from skewed news outlets such as the Fox Network.  In our 2016 national election, this mis-information for the important first issue, this gave the nation a president that is not qualified for the job.

It appears that today, there are actions occurring that will help with this first issue of making the voters knowledgeable which should prevent some of those problems that occurred in the 2016 election.  Having the understanding of what occurred by Russia and other nations in 2016, the intelligence community is more aware of what to look for in 2020, and how to deal with it.  In addition, there are bills in process that will require better vetting of the presidential candidates and their overall honesty.

But as to the second important issue such as voter turn-out, there are also some actions and changes in-process to counter the GOP’s efforts to prevent potential US voters from registering.  It will also keep these individuals from preventing US citizens from voting.

Also, as to the second most important issue, voter turn-out and its improvement, the Democrats are proposing that the United States should consider following some other nations that have a holiday for their federal elections.  Being that the Republicans are aware that whenever there is a large turnout in the individual states, the Democrats have a better chance of winning.  That’s because that in 19 states (plus D.C.) there are more registered Democrats, while in the remaining 12 states, there are more registered Republicans.  40% of all voters are Democrats, 29% are Republicans, and 28% are independents.  Historically, women Independent voters tend to vote for Democrats, and Independent men tend to vote for Republicans.  In addition, since 1964, the turn-out of women voters has been much higher than men voters.

To prove this point of poor US voter turn-out, a survey of roughly 19 million registered voters who did not participate in the 2016 election found that 14.3%, or about 2.7 million people said they were too busy at work to take time off to vote.  That could increase voter turn-out, and historically, that would be more beneficial to Democrats.

Because of this fact, in a speech on the Senate floor, the Republican Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell denounced Democratic legislation intended to increase voter turnout as a “power grab,” singling out one proposal as particularly to blame: a bill making Election Day a federal holiday.

“This is the Democrat plan to restore democracy?” said Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and the Senate majority leader, chuckling to himself. “A power grab that’s smelling more and more like exactly what it is.  Just what America needs: another paid holiday,” said Mr. McConnell,

His remarks set off a backlash from Democrats in Congress, who questioned why anyone would oppose efforts to clear obstacles for voting.  The criticism extended to social media, where people accused Mr. McConnell of being afraid of increased voter turnout.  Republicans have often put forward measures restricting voting, such as laws requiring voter identification or restricting early voting.  Democrats rightly say these are only devised to mainly suppress voter turnout.

“Is it a Democratic Party ‘power grab,’ as Mitch says, if we make voting more convenient for everyone?” former Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, said on Twitter. “What is Mitch afraid of? ......Answer: the people.”

Other nations have different ways to insure high voter turn-out.  Even though the United States started out with the idea of a democracy, the voter turn-out in the US is pretty pathetic.  About 56% of voting-age Americans cast ballots in the last presidential election.  That’s a slight increase from 2012, but it’s lower than in 2008.  In Germany, by comparison, voter turnout in 2017 was 76%.

Some countries with the highest turnout in the world make it easier for their citizens to cast ballots.  In Australia, voting is required by law, and citizens also make a party out of it: Their elections are held on Saturdays, with people gathering for barbecues and get-togethers. Turnout is typically over 90%.

Also high on the list is Israel and South Korea, which both have national holidays on their election days.

Mr. Mitch McConnell is scared to death that if the Democrats keep the House and eventually take back the Senate, which is very possible in 2020, and if there is a Democratic president, it would be very easy to have a designated holiday established for the first week of November every two years.

Mr. McConnell, you are very correct to be scared.

Copyright G. Ater 2019