A couple of days ago, the Daily Post shared an op-ed by commentator John Corderman, who bemoaned the failure of state governments to revert back to “standard voting operating procedures” following the COVID debacle.
He bemoaned other things, as well, but I especially liked that particular phrase.
“Standard voting operating procedure.”
Makes it sound like there’s some kind of “standard” in America. As if our state governments were in agreement about who gets to vote, and who doesn’t. And where. And how.
And how many times?
I wouldn’t mind, if all the U.S. states had a shared agreement about voting… as long as I get to vote, the same number of times as everyone else. I understand a lot of Americans are denied the right to vote, for various reasons. I would definitely not like a system where I was prohibited from voting.
Which should not be taken to imply that I actually vote.
I mean, yes, of course, I do vote now and then, when there’s something worth voting about. The Presidential elections, for example, do not often present me with something worth voting on. Basically, to get nominated for President, you pretty much need to be a sociopath. Not necessarily because ordinary people (like me) want a sociopath for President — although, maybe we do? — but because, to even get the nomination, you have to be in the pocket of the big military-industrial-technology corporations. That’s the very definition of ‘sociopath’, for us ordinary people.
I once thought about running for President, but I didn’t like the idea of being in the pocket of the big corporations. Little corporations, sure. But not big ones.
And plus, you have to lie. Constantly.
According to the history books, there’s never actually been a “standard voting operating procedure” in the U.S. For example, women were granted the right to vote in Colorado in 1893. (Colorado men were pretty progressive back then. Or else, they weren’t paying attention.) But women couldn’t vote in most states until the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
That was a pretty dramatic change, because it basically doubled the number of people allowed to vote. It did not, however, improve the quality of the candidates.
We would be hard-pressed to get that kind of voter increase in 2024 — doubling the number of voters? — no matter what our operating procedures were. We’d probably have to field Presidential candidates who weren’t sociopaths. (…Or maybe it wouldn’t actually help?)
Another interesting change in standard voting procedures happened during the 1890s. Secret ballots. Prior to that time, the political parties — the Republicans and the Democrats — typically handed out ballots to voters as they entered the polling place, already marked with their selected candidates. But in the late 1880s, populists began pushing a reform to adopt the ‘Australian Ballot’ — ballots that were unmarked, and were then marked by the voter himself, privately, and tucked into a ballot box. (Remember, at this time in history, we’re talking about male voters, who generally like the idea of secrecy.)
The secret ballot required the voter to be able to read. In 1893, Arkansas Democrats — knowing that Black voters typically voted Republican — celebrated a new voting advantage with an uplifting song:
The Australian ballot works like a charm
It makes them think and scratch
And when a Negro gets a ballot
He has certainly met his match
130 years later, Republican-led states in the South and West are still coming up with new ways to prevent Blacks from registering, and voting.
“New and improved” standard operating procedures.
But thank heavens, I live in Colorado, which has adopted what you might call “non-standard voting operating procedure”. Our recent Secretaries of State — Republicans and Democrats — have put procedures in place that will allow everyone — everyone — to vote at least once. By mail. In the comfort of your own home.
Whether you can vote in Colorado after you’re dead, is still a bit unclear.
I personally like the mail ballot opinion.
I can look over the ballot in the comfort of my own home… discuss the issues and candidates with my cat, Roscoe… and then toss it in the trash, with no feelings of guilt.