2-node-supercomputer.net 2022-04-27
Some people (predominantly democrats) are concerned about voter suppression.
Other people (predominantly republicans) are concerned about election integrity.
Both concerns can be addressed at the same time.
It does not matter whether either of these concerns is valid or not. What does matter is that both can be addressed so that most people will accept the result of the next election.
And in any case, if neither or just one of the concerns is real, fixing both will still leave us with a better democracy.
First, how about automatic voter registration and de-registration? Here is how it works. Every citizen gets automatically registered in their home county. If you move, you get de-registered in your old home county when you register in the new one. Everyone citizen is registered exactly once - no more, no less. Now, maybe there are some subtleties getting it to work across states, but what’s not to like?
Second, one could require voter ID and make the voter ID free for every voting-age citizen. If everyone has to pay for it, might as well make it free, right? Driver’s licenses for voters would have an extra mark indicating they can vote, driver’s licenses for aliens would lack that mark. What’s not to like?
Third, have sufficient number of polling places in accessible locations, have them open long enough for everyone to vote, and let people sit and drink in line. This is just basic human decency, but, yes, I admit this only addresses the voter suppression concern. Still, what’s not to like?
Finally, how about voting on July 4th? No better way to celebrate our freedom than by casting a vote. No need for a new holiday. Use the one we are all proud of and that got us in this mess in the first place.