Voting rights

      As the 2020 election nears, the topic of voting rights is again in the news.  In my article "Needed: Voter literacy test" I stated that having MORE people vote does not, in any way, result in a "better" outcome.  But for today's discussion, let us assume that everyone who wants to vote truly deserves to be able to do so.   Which introduces the eternal battle between maintaining voting integrity, versus ensuring that no one gets unjustly restricted from voting.

      Security battles are all around us every day.  We want to be able to communicate and do financial transactions quickly and easily using electronic technology, but that puts us at the risk of thieves and scammers.  We want to be able to whip out a plastic card to pay for our purchases (instead of carrying cash), but that card must be verified.  We want to be able to enter buildings and airplanes and public spaces without hassle, but they must ascertain that we are not carrying weapons.  

      And so it goes with voting:  somehow we must verify that thus person is a valid voter, that they only vote ONCE, and so on.  But the fact is:  there is no "silver bullet".  No single solution will satisfy all objectives.  And on this issue, as so many others, battle lines are being drawn between competing factions, and any kind of compromise is out the question.

      The "conservative" side is all in for voter integrity.  They hold that all prospective voters must prove that that they are who they say they are, that they are qualified to vote in the respective election, and that they only vote once.  Thus they want to require that all voters must present verifying identification.  This should not be a problem, because in today's society, we ALL, sooner or later, must verify our identify for many, many things.  The list includes:  driving a car, boarding an airplane, using a bank account, serving on a jury, and on and on.  If one cannot prove who one is, then he/she is sort of like a "non-person".  (And do we really want that kind of person voting in the first place?)

      The "liberal" side, however, maintains that many of their voters do not possess documents like a driver's license, a passport, or other forms of government-issued verification because they do not need or use them.  They don't own cars, or are physically unable to drive or serve on juries, and never fly on airplanes.  But that should not preclude them from participating in the political process!  Furthermore, the conservatives' zeal for voter integrity is totally out of proportion:  documented cases of voter fraud are either non-existent or statistically insignificant.  It's a solution in search of a problem!  (Yes vote manipulation can and does occur, but it happens AFTER the vote is cast, not at the point of voting.) 

      So which side is right, the conservatives or the liberals?  Answer: they BOTH are!  But neither side is willing to admit that the other side has a very valid point.  Unfortunately, this is pretty much how politics works these days:  everybody pick a side, gird your loins, and don't give an inch.

      The only way forward at this point is for both sides to sit down, drop the hyper-partisanship, and discuss this like adults.

      How did the world survive before open-minded diplomats like me came along?