Beware consequences

Why would Donald Trump, and a large portion of the GOP, continue campaigning to have the 2020 presidential election overturned? They allege there is widespread voter fraud.

There is only one way that I know of to have near-100 percent certainty that there is no voter fraud. That would be to make ballots traceable to each voter so they can be audited. That would require doing away with the requirement that all ballots should be secret. Before anyone stands up and suggests that we do away with the secret ballot, we need to look at the probable consequences.

If ballots are no longer secret and thus traceable to each voter, what would stop government officials from knowing who voted against them? If a voter has voted against the winning side; that voter can be black-listed from government employment and government contracts. Voting against the winning/controlling side could create increased government scrutiny and harassment of yourself, your family, and your employer. You could lose your access to insurance and health care. Your credit score could be negatively affected.

If you don’t really believe in equal rights for all, you might be for a system to oppress those on the other side. You should be warned that whatever tool you give government to damage the other side, it will probably be used against you when the other side gets into power. I used to only think that our slide into serfdom was a threat from the left wanting to make us all dependent on the government. I now see that the right is attempting to change the style of serfdom by government controlling who are the winners and losers.

WILLIAM BARGER Little Rock