Wordplay: Dismissing voter fraud with a phrase

“There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.”

How many times have you heard this phrase parroted by pundits and partisans in media and politics? They say it and repeat it for one purpose—to convince Americans that the 2020 election was free and fair.
 
By using the word “widespread,” they create an artificial bar to imply that, absent of widespread voter fraud, our 2020 election is legit and Joe Biden is our president-elect.
 
In contrast, I have a better, fair and responsible statement:
 
“There is alleged evidence of strategic voter fraud in the 2020 election. The question is whether it exists and, if so, does it rise to the legal level necessary to affect the outcome of the 2020 election.”
 
That media members are tripping over themselves to quash all mention of voter fraud is DEEPLY disturbing. This is not how truth-seeking objective journalists pursue their vocation. Instead of acting as our watchdog over people in power, they’re acting like one party’s attack dog.
 
Additionally, there is no constitutional office or designation of “president-elect.” This term is a media creation. In the 2000 election, apparent winner George W. Bush became the president-elect only when all results in all states were verified and electors had cast their votes.
 
Joe Biden is the apparent winner of the 2020 election. He is not the president-elect. The votes have not been certified and electors have not cast their votes.
 
Finally, if our government does not overhaul our election system to restore trust in future elections, we’ll forever lose faith in our most essential freedom.

4 Replies to “Wordplay: Dismissing voter fraud with a phrase”

  1. I caught that, too! They remind me of my kids trying to use word play to get away with convincing themselves they weren’t actually telling a falsehood… although they were.

  2. I have your link in a bookmark folder titled “Stuff that makes me think”. We disagree on Mr. Trump and much of what has happened over the last 4 years. That’s okay, because you still make me think. I am grateful for that. Thank you for continuing to speak clearly and in grace.

    There were bills put forward to assist in this election process. They didn’t move anywhere or were even discussed because of intransience on the part of the party in power. That’s the way Washington works. People in power want to protect their power.

    States have control of their electoral process. Some states have shown great effectiveness in doing this. Washington state has voted by mail for years. It works for them. Maybe we should look at their model for the next four years.

    You had many state legislatures who delayed the counting of mail-in ballots, absentee ballots until after the in-person ballots were counted. That caused some real difficulty.

    Voting should be easy. It should be a privilege. It should be protected. It should be a task that ALL politicians should strive to honor regardless of party. We will definitely agree there is work to do.

  3. Hi, Steve—Sorry for the delay. I consider your putting my site link in that bookmark folder high praise :-). Thank you. What do you think of a universal voter ID card issued by states? What about a small voter integrity department in the federal government that standardizes presidential and congressional voting procedures? I can hardly believe I’m for yet another fed department, but as you say, there is work to do.

    In my view, the only way to help us move toward unity regarding voting is a standardized system that requires citizens to prove their identities. I think mail-in voting is much too risky. Washington State may have done well, but their counties, cities and districts don’t have decades-long reputations for fraud like blue state cities such as Detroit and Philly. Have you ever visited the Heritage Foundation’s site that lists voter fraud convictions by state? It’s interesting. https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud

    Thanks for more good dialogue.

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