2023 Election Report
As of this writing, we have 961 voters on the checklist: 294 Democrats, 315 Republicans, and 352 Undeclared voters. And while elections in Bennington once again ran smoothly, there is much talk in this country about "problems" with elections. Sometimes it's difficult to discern what merits concern and what doesn't. With the recent proliferation of information, our knowledge is challenged constantly, and wisdom becomes rare indeed.
However, there are still some things that most people in this country can agree on. Sometimes you just have to get back to first principles.
Voting in the United States is a right that should be extended to all citizens over the age of 18. What complicates this is that we are a federation of states, each of which makes its own rules for voting.
While most of us should agree that voting should be as easy as possible, we should also agree that citizens should vote only once per election in the place that they call their primary home. They should be able to vote privately and their vote should be counted in a timely manner.
Sounds simple, doesn't it?
Some people believe that a great deal of fraudulent voting takes place regularly. But election officials in all the states work very hard to make sure that voting laws are followed. There are substantial penalties levied for people who engage in in-person voter fraud (i.e. voting twice in two different places or voting as someone that you are not). People who try this get caught, pay substantial fines, and go to jail. The percentage of fraudulent voting is a fraction of a percentage point. For example, The average double voting rate for most states is around 0.0002% (https://safeatlast.co/blog/voter-fraud-statistics/#gref)
For specific cases of voter fraud, see:
https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud/search?combine&state=All&year&case_type=All&fraud_type=24493
For more information on voter fraud allegations, see:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/truth-about-voter-fraud
The truth is, a person is more likely to be hit by lightning than they are to commit voter fraud. How much energy should we be putting into preventing this sort of thing, compared to how much energy we should be putting into getting our citizens more involved and engaged in participating in democracy?
What is concerning is that many legislatures are passing laws that make it more difficult for citizens to vote. New Hampshire's recently passed law, SB 418, essentially creates a provisional ballot system that potentially violates a voter's right to vote in secret. And the amount of time given for voters to prove that they voted legitimately could potentially disenfranchise members of the military and others who work overseas.
Any so-called reform that has an extremely limited benefit, while also making it measurably harder to vote, should end up on the trash-heap of bad ideas. Good ideas, like holding elections on weekends, early, mail-in, and absentee voting (with the proper safeguards in place) should merit our attention.
Oh, and did you know which 5 countries have the highest voter participation among their citizens? Uruguay, Turkey, Peru, Indonesia, and Argentina. And where does the USA rank on that list? 31st. (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/11/01/turnout-in-u-s-has-soared-in-recent-elections-but-by-some-measures-still-trails-that-of-many-other-countries/)
Clearly, there is still work to do.
Thanks to all who participate!
Walter Turner
Sincerest Thanks to all of our election workers and to the selectmen, who all work very hard to keep our democracy rolling:
Brenda Gibbons
Melissa Searles
Debra Belcher
Karen Belcher
John Cronin
Bethany Craig
Debra Page
Barbara Goodwin
Rhonda Davie
Tom James
David Foster
James Cleary
And to our many Volunteers!
