Kevin Bae

Non-Social in a Socially Networked World

Some Georgia Republicans think they’ll gain votes by being spineless

The mistake Republicans make is thinking that moderating their views will win over people that are not inclined to vote for them. I don’t think this has ever happened in the history of politics. I like to vote for people who have a set of principles and they try to stick to those principles even in the face of being unpopular. Sometimes the unpopular thing is the right thing.

Despite the Senate passage Monday, some of the state’s top Republicans have indicated they oppose curbing mail-in voting.

One of those Republicans, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, is opposed to removing no-excuse absentee voting and some other measures proposed by fellow Republicans and opted not to preside over the debate. Three vulnerable Republican senators from swing districts — John Albers, Kay Kirkpatrick and Brian Strickland — were the only ones who did not co-sponsor the bill and opted to be excused from the vote. Republican Sen. Chuck Hufstetler was excused from the vote as well.

NPR

Do these Georgia politicians think they are going to win over votes just because they didn’t vote on this bill? If anything they will be viewed as spineless by republican voters. Not only will they not gain voters from their wimpiness they will lose votes and subsequently lose their seats. This is what happened in the runoff elections for U.S. Senate here in Georgia. Too many republican voters stayed home because they believed either their vote wouldn’t count, they disliked Trump, or they disliked the candidates. Republican voters stayed home and democrat voters didn’t. Republicans lost.

Voting is a responsibility. It should not be so easy as to sit around in your chair at home and drop something in the mail. Voting is also not a right but a privilege set up by the government we created. It’s not a right because it is not at birthright. It is not like your right to life, your right to think, and your right to live your life as you see fit. Voting is part of a process to elect representatives to government. There should be some friction to voting in order to make it fair, free, and accurate.

When I talk about friction I don’t mean laws preventing people to vote because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other labeled group you can think of. When I talk of friction I’m talking about legal friction. Are you a citizen? Do you reside in the place in which you’re voting? Did you only vote once? Did you vote on time? Nothing more and nothing less. Mail-in voting, same day registration, and extensive early voting removes these frictions.

If voting is as important as we say it is then it should be proportional to the effort to cast the vote. If we are to keep early voting it should be limited to the week prior to election day. If you can’t find the time to cast your ballot over the course of a week then it’s not that important to you. Mail-in voting should be limited to those requesting absentee ballots. If you will be in the city in which you are voting you should show up in person to cast that vote. Right now in many places you have a month to find the time. Same day registration should be banned. This is a vector for fraud like no other. Imagine overwhelming a system by hoards of people registering to vote on election day. If your vote is important enough to you you’ll make sure you’re registered.

My solution is to have national guidelines. Not mandates as our country is big and diverse. The same rules for NYC won’t apply in Casper, Wyoming. Below are my guidelines.

  • National voting week for national elections.
    • Hard beginning and end. No exceptions
  • Any absentee ballot must arrive before end of day on the final day of voting. No exceptions
  • Voters must be registered a minimum of 30 days prior to election day. 60 days is optimal to me, however
  • Identification is required to cast a vote. No exceptions

I don’t think any of the above is too much to ask of a responsible citizen. Republican lawmakers need to stick to their positions on this. Not because they’ll win votes but because it’s the right thing to do.


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