I no longer trust elections
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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
Foolishly, until Jan. 6, 2021, I thought the certification of the election of the president of the United States was supposed to mean something. It turned out it was merely a ceremonial function that could have been accomplished by a barrel of monkeys.
This activity was just something to be done on a certain specified day, it signified nothing about the integrity of the election. I still don’t know if the presidential election of 2020 was an honest election or not for the certification clearly had nothing to do with it being an honest election.
Some of the elections this past November seem to carry the same doubt.
In Cochise County, Ariz., the county supervisor’s board of supervisors was ordered to certify the election by 5 p.m. Mountain Time Dec. 1 after they had failed to certify it by the statutory deadline of Nov. 28. The judge who made the ruling, at least from the reports I have seen, appears not to be concerned about it being a free and fair election, he only was concerned that the results were certified.
Maricopa County, Ariz. has been reported as a complete mess. On election day, “70 of the counties' 223 voting centers reported printer problems with the result that approximately 16,000 votes couldn’t go through the tabulators” (Epoch Times). The county’s vote was certified on Nov. 28, apparently without sorting out the confusion.
It was reported on Nov. 27 the Maricopa County Elections Department stated that the county had followed state and federal laws to ensure every voter could cast their ballot. I think this is extremely interesting wording. It is absolutely silent on whether or not every vote was accurately counted.
In Luzerne County, Pa., the polls did not have enough paper ballots on election day. They also failed to certify on Nov. 28, per statute. They were sued by Rep. Matt Cartwright and ultimately certified the election in their county on Nov. 30, again, silent on the accuracy of the count.
As I write this, we are in the midst of a horrific runoff election here in Georgia. With what I have seen, no matter who “wins,” I will doubt the outcome.
All of this leads me to this conclusion. As a country, as states, as local governments, we can save a tremendous amount of money in the future, for the message we are receiving from those in power is this: The most important thing when it comes to elections is the certification process, completed on the date as specified by legislation. Nothing else matters.
Think about it, once one digests this information, it is clear we are freed of elections! We are free from political advertisements! Let freedom ring!
As Joseph Stalin said, “I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this – who counts the votes and how.”
He said this in 1923 as recorded by Boris Bashanov, "The Memoirs of Stalin’s Former Secretary" (1992). Stalin was right.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.
HCP columnist
Foolishly, until Jan. 6, 2021, I thought the certification of the election of the president of the United States was supposed to mean something. It turned out it was merely a ceremonial function that could have been accomplished by a barrel of monkeys.
This activity was just something to be done on a certain specified day, it signified nothing about the integrity of the election. I still don’t know if the presidential election of 2020 was an honest election or not for the certification clearly had nothing to do with it being an honest election.
Some of the elections this past November seem to carry the same doubt.
In Cochise County, Ariz., the county supervisor’s board of supervisors was ordered to certify the election by 5 p.m. Mountain Time Dec. 1 after they had failed to certify it by the statutory deadline of Nov. 28. The judge who made the ruling, at least from the reports I have seen, appears not to be concerned about it being a free and fair election, he only was concerned that the results were certified.
Maricopa County, Ariz. has been reported as a complete mess. On election day, “70 of the counties' 223 voting centers reported printer problems with the result that approximately 16,000 votes couldn’t go through the tabulators” (Epoch Times). The county’s vote was certified on Nov. 28, apparently without sorting out the confusion.
It was reported on Nov. 27 the Maricopa County Elections Department stated that the county had followed state and federal laws to ensure every voter could cast their ballot. I think this is extremely interesting wording. It is absolutely silent on whether or not every vote was accurately counted.
In Luzerne County, Pa., the polls did not have enough paper ballots on election day. They also failed to certify on Nov. 28, per statute. They were sued by Rep. Matt Cartwright and ultimately certified the election in their county on Nov. 30, again, silent on the accuracy of the count.
As I write this, we are in the midst of a horrific runoff election here in Georgia. With what I have seen, no matter who “wins,” I will doubt the outcome.
All of this leads me to this conclusion. As a country, as states, as local governments, we can save a tremendous amount of money in the future, for the message we are receiving from those in power is this: The most important thing when it comes to elections is the certification process, completed on the date as specified by legislation. Nothing else matters.
Think about it, once one digests this information, it is clear we are freed of elections! We are free from political advertisements! Let freedom ring!
As Joseph Stalin said, “I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this – who counts the votes and how.”
He said this in 1923 as recorded by Boris Bashanov, "The Memoirs of Stalin’s Former Secretary" (1992). Stalin was right.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.