Virginia makes it very difficult to vote absentee.
That is true. . .but here is my VA story.
On Saturday last, the wife and I voted early in Fairfax County, VA. We voted early because today, election day, I will be working a long, long day and might not make it to the polls in time and the wife needs to take care of her mother (dementia).
Here is what we observed at the Fairfax County voting venue:
All told, about 200 people were in the polling place waiting to cast early (absentee) votes.
1) About 1/3 were obviously illegals from south of the border. They had “the look.” Those in law enforcement/Customs/Border Patrol know what I am talking about. Of those, most could not speak a word of English, or at best, had very limited ability. This meant that most could not independently fill out the Absentee form as they couldn’t read it or understand spoken instructions. There was some guy that translated for them. But hey, aren’t you supposed to demonstrate proficiency in the English language when becoming an American citizen? Nonetheless, they all had a voter registration card. In Fairfax all they require to vote is the registration card, no photo ID, nothing to prove who you are, no proof of citizenship required. Just the registration card.
2) About 1/3 were other foreign nationals. Many were Asian with many more from mid-east and Africa. Many of them could not read the form and so very many could not speak English. For example, there were three Egyptians in the room, two sons with an elderly Egyptian woman that had no clue as to what was going on. Seriously. She was clearly suffering from dementia and couldn’t speak a word of English. She could not fill in the form, they put the pen in her hand and moved her hand for her. She needed assistance from her son’s to get to the voting cubicle because she was lost and confused, didn’t know where she was, and they went to the booth with her and directed her hand during voting (I could observe them, as the “booth” was a small cubicle that only hid the touch screen, not the person. I half-jokingly told my wife she should go home and get her mother’s voting card and, since no proof of ID is required, she could come back and cast a vote using her mother’s registration card. There was also an oriental woman with no English ability whatsoever. I saw her because one of the the poll volunteers called to the crowd, asking if anyone could translate for the lady. Some oriental guy translated the instructions from the polling volunteer to the lady, and then he also helped the lady fill in the form-—you see, she could not write in English. Again, isn’t there some requirement for English proficiency when becoming an American citizen? Again, why don’t we have a photo ID requirement and proof of citizenship? Such a simple thing to cut down on the fraud I personally witnessed.
3) The remaining 1/3rd we your “average” Americans.
I swear, I felt like I was in some third world bureaucratic environment, with English being the minority language and people of no obvious mental capability voting.
It was a nightmare and I truly think that soon, very soon, we will have pictures on the ballots instead of written names, just like they do in third world countries.
Truly, I fear for the Republic.