From the Right: Root Out Fraud or Voters Will Not Trust the System

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Don Schmitz

Peaceful transition of power after a presidential election, a hallmark of our successful republic for centuries, yet Americans are very jumpy this election cycle. Why? Folks on the left will point to strong statements from the Trump administration asserting election fraud, but that honestly isn’t the reason. It is because close to 74 million Americans voted for Trump, and many of them suspect foul play. Enter the bombastic reporting that this is about a childish egomaniac not accepting defeat, more dangerous yet are the comments about redneck Republicans itching to have a war—dangerous and untrue.

Many on the left can easily envision this because of what they see in the mirror. Remember the riots in 2016 when Hillary was defeated, the freeways blocked, the arson, people attacked? True, the Obama administration cooperated with the transfer of power, as he was a suave, polished and articulate president. Regardless, tens of thousands of his supporters took to the streets before the inauguration. Do you remember in 2016? “Not my president!” “The election was stolen!” “Resist!” 

Republicans are troubled by released court documents showing that the Obama/Biden administration authorized spying on the 2016 Trump campaign, and by FBI agents admitting that they lied to the FISA court to get warrants. They are troubled by Democrats admitting that they stole some states from Bernie Sanders for Hillary, by clandestine videos of political operatives bragging about bus loads of paid agitators sent to break up rallies. What really troubles them most is when they hear public and private comments from the left that they would do anything—anything—to get rid of Trump: lie, manipulate, engage in fraud. I have read, and been told personally by some, they would literally murder Trump with no regrets. We know that the boarded-up stores in Manhattan, Chicago and L.A. were for rioting leftists should Trump win. The plywood all came down when Biden won the vote count. Conclusion: there is no limit to how far many (far too many) on the left will go to wrest power back.

Offended? Apologies, but you made your bed, and now we are all in it together. The real danger here isn’t Trump or any other politician, it’s that our people are losing faith in the integrity of the voting process. It’s to be expected, when in 2000 and 2016 many Democrats asserted the election was “stolen.” It’s natural when the Election Integrity Project documents over 440,000 “questionable” ballots in CA alone. We saw videos of poll watchers pushed out of the room in battleground states and the windows papered over. We know the Democratic-run Committee on House Administration conducted a hearing on the Dominion voting machines in January of this year, and lawmakers were concerned about their susceptibility to fraud. 

I don’t know if there was massive voter fraud this election, and the courts will work this out shortly. Trump will make his case, and should he lose, he will pack his bags. Of course he will. There won’t be raging riots of Republicans over that outcome either. Don’t relax, though; this is a mess and, candidly, we need to fix it. Biden says he wants to unify, so start with election integrity. Democrats need to stop claiming every election they lose is due to fraud, drop the knee-jerk reaction against cleaning up the voter rolls and, yes, support voter IDs. The reason we don’t have tanks surrounding the White House after an election, pointing their guns inward or outward, is because the American people support the process and believe in it. That belief is sadly fading, which is beyond alarming. Both parties need to get behind this as a priority, and not within the context of another (soon to come) tough election cycle.

Obama stated: “There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter,” which is true, unless, of course, the citizens believe their vote is negated by fraud. Lincoln stated: “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” So true, but if half the country believes that their vote is rendered moot, and half the country does, then we invite violence into our society. Last week’s Rasmussen’s poll stunned with 47 percent of Americans, including 30 percent of Democrats, believing the Democrats engaged in fraud to win the presidency. When half the country believes the election is fraudulent, we’re in trouble. 

We have dealt with similar issues before, passing the Civil Rights Act of 1960, with 87 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of Democrats voting “Yes,” overturning deeply entrenched obstructions to the Black vote. Legislation to ensure honest election counts should be easy in comparison and is imperative. Without the shadow of fraud on our elections, we can rest easy knowing the peaceful transfer of power can continue for another 200 years for our great republic.