The voting wars are a danger to our democracy
Special To The :ashington 3ost
Democrats have fictional monsters under the electoral bed. Belief that 5epublicans engage in widespread and effective ³voter suppression´ tactics has become dogma for many Democrats. The epitome of this paranoid tendency in 8.S. politics is Stacey Abrams’s claim that she was robbed of the *eorgia governorship in part because of a *eorgia law that prevented processing of around , voter registrations she lost by over , votes . (ven though federal law requires states to remove people who have died or moved from voter registration rolls, progressives now regularly claim that any attempt to do this is an evil scheme to stop Democratic constituencies from voting.
Studies have also tried and failed to find an appreciable effect on turnout stemming from voter ,D laws. The weight of the data shows that this is true even when the data are disaggregated by race and age, the two Democratic-leaning
demographics progressives often allege are disenfranchised. 1or do the claims pass the simple smell test. 9oter turnout remains high in recent elections among all groups compared with the levels seen in the years after voting was e[tended to all year olds. 9ariations such as the notable large drops of voting by white, non-college-educated voters in and black voters in are easily e[plained by normal considerations such as 0itt 5omney’s lack of blue-collar appeal or the absence of Barack 2bama from the ticket.
But these claims do have one big effect: They further increase political polari]ation and decrease trust in democracy. Democratic transfer of power can work only if the loser accepts the outcome. That, in turn, happens only if it is widely recogni]ed that the process is broadly fair and free from manipulation. 2nce that trust is gone, the loser increasingly believes they have no chance to gain power through normal means. This radicali]es people and encourages them to do anything possible to keep the other side out of power.
,t’s too much to ask for the parties to step back from the brink so close to the election, but it’s not too much to ask for a bipartisan, comprehensive compromise to be hashed out soon thereafter. Both parties should be able to agree on the principle of ³one person, one vote.´ Democrats will have to give on voter ,D requirements to ensure that undocumented immigrants aren’t permitted to vote and that citi]ens cast only one ballot in each election. 5epublicans have to give on early or mail-in balloting. Some sort of national voter card tied to (-9erify with a number that voters have to produce to cast a ballot would seem to satisfy *23 concerns while permitting easy access to voting for all.
America’s democracy is imperfect, but it has still been a beacon to the world for more than two centuries. :e should not let partisan bickering throw that invaluable heritage away.