Election Post-Mortem

The Republicans have also taken the Senate.  The House is still up in the air.

I’ll comment about the results once we know them for sure.  Here are some thoughts about the election itself.   I’ll comment about the results once we know them for sure.  Here are some thoughts about the election itself. . .

UPDATE:  As you no doubt are aware by now, Trump did, in fact, win.  Decisively.  Tomorrow we’ll discuss that.

Early Voting

We took advantage of Missouri’s two-week early voting period.  We were in a three-blocks-long line that took us right at two hours to cast our ballot!  I’ve never had to wait anywhere near that long.  And, from what I’ve heard, every day has been that way!  It’s been like 12 election days.  The turnout must be huge.  That would be good for democracy–only 54.8% voted in 2016, with a record 62.8% voting in 2020–though I’m not sure it will be good for Republicans.

Do you see any problems with moving from one Election Day to an Election week, or even an Election month?  That might dilute the last-minute “October surprises” and other demagoguery from our politicians.  And it might encourage voters to reflect longer on their vote, voting when they have come to an actual decision, as opposed to how their impulses are pulling them on a single day.

Local Elections Are Depressing

I’m thankful not to still be in the battleground state of Wisconsin, which must have been deluged by campaigning.  Here in Missouri, a reliably red state, the attention has been on the abortion referendum.  There was a gambling referendum whose advertisers never mentioned gambling:  The ads were all about voting to support our teachers, who would get a cut of the state’s action.

Getting Out the Vote by Means of Intimidation

Some get-out-the-vote efforts used the technique of veiled threats.  The senders say they will check on you if you don’t vote.

The Federalist’s Logan Washburn reported on a mailer his wife received in Michigan.  It read,

“Remember, who you vote for is private, but whether or not you voted is public record,” wrote VPC President Tom Lopach in the letter. “We’re sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to share who does and does not vote in an effort to promote election participation.”

Then it went on to actually list a redacted version of who all voted in previous elections in their neighborhood:

“We will be reviewing these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbors in voting,” Lopach wrote. “While we have hidden the name and street number of your neighbors to protect their privacy, these are their true voting records.”

It turned out, voters all over America are getting this message.  It was from the Voter Participation Center, which Washburn dug around to find that it’s a leftwing feminist organization, targeting women and young people whom they assume would vote for their agenda.

We got a similar flyer that read:

Who you vote for is private, but whether you vote is public record.  Make your plan to vote today!  When we follow up after the election, we hope to see you voted in this critical election

This one was signed by Planned Parenthood, no doubt in an effort to get the pro-abortion referendum passed!

To his credit, the attorney general of the State of Maryland has issued a cease and desist order to the senders of these mailers.  In a notice regarding Letters to Marylanders Threaten to Publicly Expose Registered Voters Who Do Not Vote.  Attorney General Anthony Brown said that these letters are in violation of state and federal election laws, which forbid attempts to influence an election by means of intimidation.

Recipients of these communications from the CVI are being led to believe that, if they choose not to vote, that decision will be published to their neighbors. The recipients to whom our office has spoken have uniformly described feeling intimidated, threatened, shocked, and ill-at-ease by this mailing, as the letter suggests that there will be follow-up after the election. This threat to publicly expose the recipient’s voting record violates both Maryland and federal laws.

The Attorney General’s office will seek a court order preventing registration and voting lists from being made public. “Let me be clear,” Brown says. “These unnerving letters are unacceptable, and Maryland voters should know that their decision to vote this Election Day is entirely theirs to make.”

Bible Texts to Keep in Mind

“God punishes wicked subjects with wicked rulers.”  That line is often attributed to Calvin, but I have identified it as coming Martin Luther, from his Treatise on the Ban.  Luther cites Isaiah 3, which recounts God’s judgment on his sinful people by, in part, having them be ruled by children:

And I will make boys their princes,
and infants shall rule over them. (3:4)

By the unqualified:

For a man will take hold of his brother
    in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a cloak;
    you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
    shall be under your rule.” (3:6)

And, yes, by women:

My people—infants are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
O my people, your guides mislead you
    and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. (3:12)

Then again, the Bible also teaches that God sometimes brings non-believing rulers into power for His purposes; specifically, for the good of His people.  Cyrus , mentioned here, is the Persian king who allowed the Children of Israel to return from exile:

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed,
    to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
to subdue nations before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
² I will go before you
    and will level the mountains^[a];
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
³ I will give you hidden treasures,
    riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
⁴ For the sake of Jacob my servant,
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge me. (Isaiah 45:1-4)

And we mustn’t forget this text, which has broad applicability:

Put not your trust in princes,
    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.  (Psalm 146:3-4)

Photo:  Judge Robert Rosenberg closely examines a Florida punch card ballot from the 2000 US Presidential election for signs of a hanging chad (2000) by Alan Diaz[1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons