Holy mother of pearl, guys… there is a bill that recently passed Congress and we’ve got to talk about it. It’s called the “For the People” Act (or HR1) and trust me when I say no matter where you sit politically… you are not “the people” this bill is for. You want nothing to do with this massive election overhaul stunt.
This is not about republicans or democrats. This is about dangerous, power-hungry politicians on both sides of the aisle making a desperate grab at control over elections in hopes of staying on their thrones forever and ever. Remember, it was Joseph Stalin (leader of the communist Soviet Union and a gem of a man) who was rumored to have said “The people who cast the votes decide nothing; the people who count the votes decide everything.” Mic drop.
Let us not forget this when looking at the motive behind a bill like HR1.
So, let’s back up. I’m getting ahead of myself. What is the “For the People” Act (HR1)? Well, it’s one of those aggressively long bills (almost 800 pages) that no one wants to or plans to read but if passed will completely transform our elections forever and gravely endanger our first amendment protections. (Does anyone remember a socialized medicine bill going through, unread, in a similar fashion?) After a hot mess of an election in 2020 (if you’ve missed my strong opinions on this topic, check out the evidence here), why on earth would we be attempting to expand things like mail-in voting moving forward?
Yes, the expansion of mail-in voting is one of the main goals of this bill (which if passed in the Senate will become law) but it’s not the only problem I have with this 800 page garbage heap. This bill will extend the election deadline–making permanent the circus that was our “election month” verses the long held tradition of knowing who our president is in a decisive day long count–what a concept. Under HR1, ballots will be accepted ten days post election day because it’s just too much pressure to have a four year countdown to an election–we need more time!! HR1 will also federalize our elections, taking the constitutionally established power over elections from the states. A lot of states have already begun passing their own reform–which is great news–but HR1 would eliminate their power to do so. This bill also allows felons to vote, because why not? Honestly, I’m surprised it doesn’t legalize deceased voting, but it will certainly make it easier for dead voices to be heard. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear that of the tens of thousands of dead people who voted in our last election, not one of them showed up to vote in person.
So much to talk about with this bill, so little time. Let’s just focus on this mail-in ballot nonsense today, shall we?
According to former president Jimmy Carter, “Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fra0d.” Hey, he said it, not me. This was the conclusion of the bipartisan 2005 report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform. We’ve already gone around this mulberry bush, y’all. There are a million ways this method of voting is (and has been) ripe for corruption.
Let’s just think about it logically. When I go in person to vote–and I always have–I stand in line, present my ID, verify my signature, and successfully and privately cast my vote. I essentially hand my vote right over to be counted by the powers that be. It can’t be thrown in the garbage. It’s can’t be manipulated. It can’t be shredded or found in a ditch (not that that exact thing ever happens in 2020 elections.) No middle man need ever place a finger on my vote (or my Butterfinger). My vote is in. No one else can vote for me. Done and done. (Do we need to eliminate in-person machine voting, or in the very least go back to a machine votes that print out a matching, trackable paper ballot with receipt? Yes, yes we do–but that’s not in this bill.)
Mail-in voting, in contrast, is incredibly vulnerable. Mail-in ballots are harder to track–it’s hard to confirm if the person on the ballot is actually the one casting the vote. I mean, who saw them do it? How can we verify? Mail-in ballots have a higher rejection rate when counted. Often times, mail-in ballots have to be interpreted (or adjudicated) by another person. There are so many hands that vote has to pass through–essentially eliminating the chain of custody entirely–before the vote is counted. Each hand is a chance at manipulation, tampering, or outright fra0d. There is also an argument to be made (and affidavits filed in 2020 claiming) that massive coercion is a real threat with mail-in voting. Unused ballots can be cast by anyone. Unused ballots can be sold (called vote buying). Unused ballots can be filled in by anyone at anytime. Ballots can be lost in transit, thrown away, replicated–all things we either saw or heard about in the 2020 election. The list goes on and on.
Why on earth would be want more of this? Why would we want to grant permission to have election month vs. election day? What if we played baseball and instead of telling you the score as we go, I’ll just keep track privately and let you know in a month or two who won, okay? Surely, that will increase trust, right?
Don’t tell me we’re expanding mail-in balloting to make voting more accessible because we can remedy that in other ways. We can extend early voting to accommodate more people. We can add voting locations to make it easier for people to get their vote in. There are other ways.
Yes, I’m an advocate for voter ID. No, I don’t think it’s racist. Countries who have had issues with fra0d and desire to add clarity and transparency don’t make it easier to cheat, they put in safeguards to insure one person equals one vote. In some countries you’re required to give a finger print to guarantee you’re voting only once, and that you are who you say you are. An inky finger is the same thing as the “I voted” sticker–can you imagine the Instagram reels? I’m not about making things difficult, I’m about making it difficult to cheat.
This bill isn’t that.
This bill will make sure the people in power stay in power (see Stalin’s quote above). We can’t get cocky on this. If you’re someone who loves that democrats currently hold power in all three branches of government, it’s incredibly short-sighted to suspect that implementing a bill like this won’t be abused when the other side is in power too. We can’t allow this kind of muddiness to be added to our election process. We may have been able to weather this storm once (it still remains to be seen, honestly, if we’ll fully get past it), but we won’t be able to weather this cluster of an election again.
So, what do we do? It’s time to call your senator folks. ESPECIALLY if you have a Democratic senator. Call them and ask them–beg them–to vote against this bill. Show up at their office if you can. Hold them accountable. And again, if you’re on the left and you love the idea of democrats staying in power forever and ever, let me just remind you that these things have a way of aging poorly. You’re not going to love it when the tables are turned, I promise you.
One more thing before we go… The podcast I was on discussing my experience in D.C. on Jan. 6th is live! Check it out here.
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