Since the last election, Republican politicians have rushed to introduce new voting laws. At last count, some 165 bills in 33 states are been introduced to restrict voting access.  Similarly, Democratic lawmakers have introduced some 541 bills in 37 states to expand access to voting.   Both sides are seeking to gain a competitive edge by skewing the rules of the game in their favor.    

We need to streamline the voting process to make it as simple, convenient and secure as possible.  No political bias should be involved in any way in the voting process. 

Every year the State sends my vehicle registration renewal notice to me in the mail.   I can pay it in person at the MVD, mail in a check, or do it online.  The form has a Record # and the last 2 of the vehicle’s VIN.    I personally do it by going to the website, entering those identifiers and renewing it from my computer.  I just did it last week.  After I was done, I waited a few minutes and logged in again.  The system let me in, but would not let me renew the registration again; it knew it had already been done.

I say this because if the State where I live has figured out how I pay my registration online, and it won’t let me do it again, it seems it would be easy to do the same thing for voting. 

Right now, the states are rolling out the new REAL ID-compliant driver’s license program.  After October 21 of this year, you will not be able to fly on a commercial airline without one.  If we’ve figured out how to do that, why can’t we have something similar; a Voter ID-compliant drivers license?   Every person who has one could be registered to vote with the license, or for non-drivers, a state ID card, and then a mail-in ballot sent to them.  The person could then mail in the ballot, or complete it online.   Exactly the same process as renewing my registration that I’ve been using for years.

I have to show my driver’s license at the Social Security office to meet with a representative, or secure the services of a doctor at the emergency room.  I have to show it to adopt a pet, purchase a firearm, buy insurance or a motor vehicle, access any of my school records or register for classes at the college, and all manner of other things. At Home Depot they scan the barcode on my driver’s license before I can use my store credit. What can possibly be so offensive about showing it to vote? 

I can pay my credit card and utility bills, register for college classes, renew my license plates, pay my auto and homeowner’s insurance, my business licenses, concealed weapons permit, and obtain or renew a fishing or hunting license, all through the mail. What’s wrong with voting by mail?

PLAN A: VOTER I.D. CARDS.

For those that argue that voter ID laws hurt minorities, people with disabilities, people in rural areas and the elderly because of the cost of the ID,  this could be resolved by issuing Voter ID compliant drivers licenses or ID cards at no charge.   I live in one of the poorest counties in the country, and as a medical First Responder, I am routinely called to the homes of poor and/or elderly people. I have never seen a single person who couldn’t produce a driver’s license or State issued ID card inside the ambulance or the emergency room.

PLAN B: SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.

We all have social security numbers. Why not use these for a voter I.D.s? If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that the government has in place the infrastructure to distribute stimulus checks to Americans based on their social security numbers. I haven’t read any stories of people getting duplicate or multiple stimulus checks. Children born in the U.S. for the last several decades have been issued social security numbers at birth. The government could make it so those numbers automatically become voter I.D.s exactly 18 years later.

An old truism holds that all other things being equal, a smaller pool of voters tends to be better for Republicans and a larger pool befits Democrats.  This is why the Republicans want to make voting more cumbersome and the Democrats want to make it easier.

I would submit that running for office is much like a company marketing its products, in which each must try to capture the largest market share.

Instead of these two parties trying to manipulate the voting process, they should look at this the same way manufacturers compete in the market place.  To capture the largest market share, you must distinguish your product from your competitor and offer the customers something your rivals do not.  You don’t try to make the rules different for how each advertises; the secret to success is producing a better product at a better price.

So long as these two parties are trying to manipulate the manner in which we vote instead of attracting voters to their respective platforms, the system will remain flawed.  Whatever manipulation works for one party this cycle may serve the other the next.  Any weapon you develop against an adversary will sooner or later be turned against you.   It’s just a matter of time until your new, secret weapon is in your opponent’s quiver.

Let’s make it easy and secure to vote by mail or online.  Let’s incentivize people to vote by giving a tax credit to each voter in national elections.  In the end, we all win.   (Inasmuch as any of us can win in a two party system)

Once we’ve made it easy and secure to vote through the mail or online, then it’s up to the politicians to figure out which lies will get people to vote their way.  That’s how politics should work; not by manipulating the manner in which people vote. 

We expect the politicians to be dishonest; not the electoral process.