America's Soviet Election System

[Kamaji]

America's Soviet Election System

America may eschew the cruel details of Soviet elections, but we negate voters’ agency just the same as the USSR.

Katya Sedgwick
Nov 21, 2022

For years, my husband has been telling me that I need to share this wild family anecdote with my readers. I’ve put it off for so long, and the United States has changed so much, that the story is no longer interesting for solely anthropological reasons.

The year was 1984, and the hero of the story is my big sister, who was then a college student in her late teens. Like everyone else, one day that March she was expected to report to her local precinct to perform some voting ritual. The USSR made Election Day a holiday, giving the workers a day off to celebrate their Sovietness.

For my sister, however, it was a chance to sleep in until early afternoon and then spend a few hours on the telephone. Maybe doing a little homework and playing “Rondo Alla Turca” on the piano. Then phone her friends again.

When the doorbell rang that evening, my sister opened the door. A short corpulent woman in a dark coat said she was from the polling place and that they knew that she hadn’t voted yet. My sister reassured the lady that she was on her way, closed the door on her and asked me to not tell grandma about the visitor. Of course, I was happy to be part of the conspiracy.

That wasn’t the end of it. The woman showed again up sometime later, explaining that the day was coming to an end but that her comrades couldn’t close the precinct yet because some irresponsible individuals hadn’t voted yet. You see, Soviet elections boasted a near 100 percent turnout. My sister, this time on her way to the shower, promised to swing by the polling place shortly. Eleven-year-old me was in awe of her sweet-talking the election official. Certainly, I was on her side, and I wouldn’t tell grandma.

But when the lady rang the bell for the third time, my sister was taking her hour-long shower, and it was grandma who came to the door. Hearing about the situation, she turned pale. It was the Soviet generation gap: members of the First Soviet Generation, my grandmother among them, were the survivors of Stalinism. They knew that disobedience can be costly. Members of the Last Soviet Generation, on the other hand, were apolitical and rebellious.

*  *  *

That family story no longer feels outlandish; in all but minutia, it has ceased to be a warning about socialism.

That Soviet situation is now not so very different from the electoral process in, for example, California, where, two years ago, under the guise of a public health emergency, Governor Gavin Newsom authorized absentee ballots to be sent to every voter. It worked so well for him that he later made the change permanent. Conveniently, ballot harvesting, also called ballot trafficking, which allows the collection of mail-in voting ballots by a third party, had already been legalized in 2016.

Under the ballot trafficking regime, we don’t drag teenage girls out of bathtubs and send them in freezing cold temperatures to polling places with still-wet hair. Oh no, that would be rude. Instead, party and union functionaries arrive at their doorsteps to pick up the ballot—this type of coercion is far more gentle on all individuals involved. We may eschew certain cruel details of Soviet life, but the attack on privacy feels very Soviet and, more importantly, the negation of agency, the very essence of disenfranchisement, is the same.

*  *  *

America today has a mirror problem. A sense of suspense around the key races is the norm—pundits generate attention-grabbing headlines, polls are interpreted every which way, and bets are placed on PredictIt.org. At the same time, the process itself is becoming increasingly opaque. With voting and balloting taking weeks if not months, many states have retired the idea of Election Day. The ballots can be returned in batches and stored in unsecured boxes. Cameras watching the uncounted ballots go dark in the middle of the night. Citizens are admonished to trust the experts, and reassured computers will not mess with the vote.

This is not the idea of free and fair Western elections that was sold to us, the discontented in the USSR. A real election involves people going to the polls and casting their vote in privacy, but in a way that is observable, so that anyone can see that it is free of coercion. Paper ballots are tallied immediately after the precincts close. And, of course, a valid form of identification is required to vote. One day, one ballot, one voter, one ID.

Multiple intentional deviations from this model raise doubts about whether what we are witnessing qualifies to be called an election at all.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.theamericanconservative.com/americas-soviet-election-system/

[Fishrrman]

"Multiple intentional deviations from this model raise doubts about whether what we are witnessing qualifies to be called an election at all."

OK, let's put things back the way they were.
With something like this (presented in form of a Constitutional article, but it could be modified to be a comprehensive model for state laws):
===========================================
This Constitution prescribes that only citizens may vote in all elections conducted within the United States. This includes elections for federal offices of The United States, elections for State offices in the Several States, and all municipal and local elections conducted within the borders of The United States.

Elections will be conducted only on Election Day as prescribed by this Constitution.

All ballots in all elections will be paper ballots cast by individual voters at their respective polling locations. Electronic means may be used to tabulate vote counts at the local level.

Provisional ballots of any kind are prohibited by this Constitution.

Ranked Choice Voting of any kind is prohibited by this Constitution.

On Election Day votes will be tabulated immediately after the polls close. Tabulation and counting of votes will proceed continuously until a final tally is reached.

There shall be a demand right of registered voters to witness the tabulation and counting of votes. Any attempt to deny such right will be deemed unconstitutional. This right shall not be modified by any Court of the United States. The Several States may however limit the total number of election observers as is practicable for reasons of safety.

An election shall not be considered to be won unless the winning candidate receives a majority of the votes cast. If no candidate receives a majority, a runoff election must be held within 35 days to determine the winner. This shall not apply to the elections for President and Vice President, which are to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral College, as enumerated in this Constitution.

The use of the United States Mail shall not be permitted for the collection of ballots, with the exception of absentee ballots.

There shall be no use of absentee ballots without the presentation of individual need, subject to strict scrutiny by the registrar of voters.

Absentee ballots must be received by the close of voting on Election Day. Any ballots received via mail after the polls close will be immediately destroyed and will not be entered into the voting tabulation.

All citizens of the United States will be required to produce identification before voting.

All citizens of the United States who desire to vote will be required to register at least six months in advance of election day, unless they have previously done so. All citizens requesting registration will be properly vetted by the registrar of voters.