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COVID-19 and International Best Practices for Free, Fair and Safe Elections
Townhall.com ^ | April 27, 2020 | Ken Blackwell

Posted on 04/27/2020 9:03:55 AM PDT by Kaslin

This pandemic may seem like it’s changed everything, but it has not changed the rules of our constitutional republic. Let’s keep it that way.

At the moment, there is a movement afoot to junk in-person voting, the manner in which the vast majority of American ballots have been cast since before the American Revolution. The radicals behind this, aided by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the federal level, and echoed by some elected officials in a number of states, are using the pandemic as cover for bald-faced partisan skullduggery.

They’re exploiting the pandemic to instill fear in our electoral process, forcing a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist — namely, that people won’t be able to get to the polls because of the coronavirus. This is a patently false assumption, as other countries have learned in similar crises. And, it was not the case in America in 1918 during the outbreak of Spanish Flu pandemic.

Transparently, the motive behind junking in-person voting this November is that big government liberals believe doing so will help them win. Speaker Pelosi even tried to condition urgently-needed coronavirus relief on a wishlist of long-standing electioneering aims, including same-day voter registration, legalized “ballot harvesting,” and mandatory early mail-in voting. Fortunately, congressional guardians of the U.S. Constitution stymied that scheme.

Had Speaker Pelosi gotten her way, states would effectively have been forced to abandon the common-sense measures they currently have in place which prevent fraudulent voting while extending the 2020 elections from one day to a month-long process. Political strategists on the left believe this will help them defeat President Donald Trump, regain the majority in the Senate and keep Mrs. Pelosi speaker.

Despite Speaker Pelosi’s setback on Capitol Hill, the left’s crusade to radically transform the very nature of the coming elections continues unabated, with liberal activist groups trying to advance Pelosi’s fumble.

The partisan motives behind these recent electoral “reform” proposals, along with the manifest opportunities for voter fraud and coercion they present — such as giving partisan activists absolute control over physical ballots — are reason enough to oppose them.

But there’s another glaring issue that’s worth pointing out: contrary to their proponents’ efforts to present them as a necessary concession to the coronavirus pandemic, the new voting procedures are clearly unnecessary from a public health perspective.

The United States has the world’s most mature and developed democratic system, and an extraordinary amount of resources to tackle the problems the coronavirus creates. This pandemic isn’t even uncharted ground. The bipartisan organization of which I am a board member, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), has been involved in similar situations before around the globe. While IFES is not involved in domestic elections, it is recognized internationally as a thought leader in election administration.

In 2014, as the Ebola virus raged in West Africa, the country of Liberia was slated to hold a crucial election. Some argued that in-person voting should be suspended, but that could have thrown the legitimacy of the results into question due to the mere possibility of widespread fraud. Instead, IFES was able to help develop protocols for voters and poll workers that kept them safe while allowing Liberians to participate in a free, fair, and in-person election.

That was the right call in Liberia. Maintaining electoral continuity almost always is. If the rules of the game are allowed to change at the last minute — especially in a way that even seems to benefit one political party over its opposition — democracy itself is cheapened and delegitimized.

If Liberia was able to safely hold an in-person election amidst an Ebola outbreak, there is no reason we cannot do so here in the United States in the wake of this pandemic. It will take planning, resources, and carefully-developed protocols, but adhering to our existing set of electoral rules is well worth the effort.

Besides, there’s no question that America has the resources and institutional knowledge to make this work. In our work abroad, IFES has already worked to create an effective protocol for holding in-person elections in countries dealing with coronavirus outbreaks. If they can do it, so can we.

Even after the worst of this crisis is over, some aspects of our daily lives will be forever altered. We can’t let the coronavirus take away the integrity of our elections. It’s just too important!


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2020preselection; voting; wuhancoronavirus

1 posted on 04/27/2020 9:03:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Just as that idiot Slow Joe Biden is afraid Trump will postpone the November elections (won’t happen); normal people are afraid of the wide scale and open fraud that will occur if Piglousy and the Rats get mail in voting.


2 posted on 04/27/2020 9:12:37 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (Click my screen name for an analysis on how HIllary wins next November.)
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To: Kaslin

There is going to be no election.


3 posted on 04/27/2020 9:24:38 AM PDT by DarthVader (Not by speeches & majority decisions will the great issues of the day be decided but by Blood & Iron)
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To: DarthVader

I’ve been saying for at least two years that this country can’t hold a successful election after what the FBI did to the last one. And that was BEFIRE the virus.


4 posted on 04/27/2020 9:36:36 AM PDT by wastoute (Anyone who believes PsyOps are not involved has never met a PsyOps Officer.)
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To: wastoute

+100!!


5 posted on 04/27/2020 9:41:53 AM PDT by DarthVader (Not by speeches & majority decisions will the great issues of the day be decided but by Blood & Iron)
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To: wastoute

No past election has a fixed or irreversible influence on any future one.


6 posted on 04/27/2020 9:45:52 AM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: reasonisfaith

There’s no such thing as a free,fair and safe election when democrats are involved. They commit massive fraud every cycle and get away with it 100% of the time. The mail in voting they’re trying to push through would signal the end of the republic.


7 posted on 04/27/2020 9:55:51 AM PDT by pawpawrick (I had a life once but my job ate it)
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To: All

Here is a fraud-proof system for the 2020 election. Any votes cast for candidates not named Trump or Pence would be ruled invalid by reason of mental defect.


8 posted on 04/27/2020 9:59:13 AM PDT by Peter ODonnell (Pray for health, economic recovery, and justice.)
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To: Kaslin
This nation has fought many battles to keep the right to vote..it's called FREEDOM.

Nothing short of death should keep an American Citizen from physically going to their polling place to vote. Make arrangements well ahead for transportation to your polling place.

9 posted on 04/27/2020 10:04:32 AM PDT by yoe (Want to HELP the Slave Trade and Drug Cartels in USA? Vote for a democrat........)
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To: Kaslin
but it has not changed the rules of our constitutional republic.

He's smokin' something.

10 posted on 04/27/2020 10:29:31 AM PDT by libertylover (Socialism will always look good to those who think they can get something for nothing.)
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To: Kaslin

The consent of the governed requires free, fair, open elections. Mail in ballots are closed room elections.


11 posted on 04/27/2020 10:36:10 AM PDT by gogeo (It isn't just time to open America up again: It's time to be America again.)
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To: pawpawrick

They will not be able.


12 posted on 04/27/2020 11:23:28 AM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: reasonisfaith

It should be the only rule :

show up 1- on election day 2- with your name on an approved voter list 3- with ID

The only exceptions should be the military


13 posted on 04/27/2020 11:48:49 AM PDT by Truthoverpower (The guv mint you get is the Trump winning express !)
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