Gil Mertz | Mail-In Ballots: What Could Ever Go Wrong?

SCV Voices: Guest Commentary
SCV Voices: Guest Commentary
Share
Tweet
Email

On its face, this seems totally reasonable to me. Many would argue that we’ve done mail-in ballots for years so why not do it for everyone? In fact, absentee voting began during the Civil War back in 1864 out of necessity since only men could vote and hundreds of thousands were at war. Seventeen states allowed both Union and Confederate soldiers to cast ballots from the battlefield, which were counted back home. 

This opportunity for the military has continued for more than 150 years. Though Democrats are not fans of military voting because it so greatly favors Republicans, I’m not aware of any scandals. With a margin of victory of just over 500 hanging-chad votes in the presidential race of 2000, it was the military vote that won the race for George Bush against Al Gore.

We use absentee ballots for a wide variety of reasons, or no reason at all. Many would cite convenience, so they don’t have to stand in lines on Election Day. I personally like to show up in person to vote but many people I know use absentee ballots, including those who are now opposed to making this available to everyone in America. 

Some would argue that voting by mail increases voter turnout and saves money, which is still open to debate. But the main argument we’re hearing from Democrats is that this is the safest way to protect lives. This is so incredulous coming from Planned Parenthood’s best friend. Remember, this is the party that literally APPLAUDED after passing bills to allow more abortions in New York and Illinois. 

But the biggest problem is voter integrity, which should be every American’s concern. As Ronna McDaniel correctly pointed out in a recent Signal column, a court in 2018 found that L.A. County had 1.5 million ineligible voters on their registration lists, meaning there were 112% more registered voters than adults living in the county. This would likely still be true if not for this lawsuit.

And now, Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered ballots sent to 20.6 million people for the big election in November.  Though a stuffed animal could carry California if it had a (D) next to its name, this will have national ramifications in the House where more than 50 seats in our state are up for grabs. With the GOP needing to flip less than 20 nationally, every House seat will be extremely valuable.

Added to the inherent problems with voting at home, Democrats have also proven how much they despise democracy as we just saw in the 25th Congressional District race by allowing voter harvesting and an in-person voting unit during a government shutdown. So much for their concerns about the public’s health.

Of course, we all know of their efforts to toss out the last election because of “Russian collusion” that never happened and then their impeachment to forcibly remove President Donald Trump from office. As Jerry Nadler infamously said, “We cannot wait for the election to address the present crisis.” 

If there’s one thing Democrats fear more than Donald Trump, it’s a fair election. 

Have they earned our trust for mail-in ballots or is this something another Democratic congressman, James Clyburn, summarized as a “tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision”? Does it trouble anyone else that only Democrats are excited about mail-in ballots for all of America?

Trusting Democrats in an election reminds me of the movie “Jurassic Park” about a wealthy entrepreneur who exploited science to bring dinosaurs back into modern civilization. 

Gee, what could possibly go wrong? 

There are now five movies in the franchise, but all with the identical premise of repeating the same mistakes with the same predictable consequences. This insult to our intelligence is overshadowed by the dazzling special effects of scary monsters. In 2021 we’ll be treated to a new installment called, “Jurassic World.” I’m guessing the dinosaurs conquer the apes for the supremacy of the planet. 

Much like the fools in “Jurassic Park” who keep messing with dinosaurs, we are facing a dilemma in real life that has predictable and dangerous consequences. Dare we trust the Democrats to play fair like we did in 2016 and 2018 and hope it turns out differently this time? 

Instead of running on positive ideas to help the American people, Democrats changed the law to allow voter harvesting, they want to lower the voting age to 16, they give voting rights to felons, they think voter ID is racist, they think we should include illegal immigrants and they want to abolish the Electoral College. Many Democrats still believe Stacey Abrams is the rightful governor of Georgia. And now they believe everyone in America should vote by mail.

Gee, what could possibly go wrong?

Gil Mertz is a Thousand Oaks resident and former Santa Clarita Valley resident who worked for Help the Children in Valencia for 20 years.

Related To This Story

Latest NEWS