The out-of-control election hyperbole
The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision upholding a voting law passed by Arizona's Republican-controlled state legislature is a shot across the bow to President Biden's Justice Department, which is challenging another such law in Georgia. It's also likely to pour another gallon of gasoline onto the voting debate in the country.
Former President Donald Trump has as recently as yesterday cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election results, citing widespread voter fraud for which there is no evidence. But more sober-minded Republicans are also worried that practices like ballot harvesting (the involvement of third parties in collecting and delivering absentee ballots, which Arizona banned in the law affirmed by the Supreme Court) and too lenient protocols around mail-in voting are lower integrity, pointing to the conclusions of a 2004 bipartisan commission led by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker.
In close elections, marginal changes to the law in this area could matter. And in Electoral College terms, the 2020 election was close: Trump lost by about 43,000 in three battleground states. Two of them were Arizona and Georgia.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There have always been tradeoffs involved between ballot access and ballot security. Any requirement that makes it easier to verify who a voter is will also make it more difficult for someone who recently moved but did not update their voting records or who isn't carrying proper identification to vote.
What has raised the temperature of this debate beyond the normal level, other than Trump's claims about last year's presidential election, is the not wholly unjustified perception that each party is weaponizing election integrity or voting rights for their own partisan gain. Each party's stance, while defensible in purely neutral terms, happens to perfectly line up with what most experts believe would help them win a competitive election.
Taking things up a notch further, each side also behaves as if we are experiencing either an old-style urban political machine level of voter fraud or a Jim Crow-level of voter suppression. It may indeed be the case that some GOP election integrity measures have a disparate impact on racial minorities that can't be justified in terms of the voting violations that actually exist, or that the voting practices adopted by many states during the pandemic need to be tightened up. But the reality doesn't match the hyperbole — or demagoguery — of either party.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
A history of Guantánamo Bay
The Explainer War of Terror's 'symbol of torture, rendition and indefinite detention' is subject of new Serial podcast series
By The Week UK Published
-
5 fun Easter activities from The Week Junior
The Week Junior Easter Activities Looking for some fun, simple Easter activities to do with the kids? Look no further – The Week Junior has you covered with these five fun and family-friendly activities.
By The Week UK Published
-
A Taste of Honey: 'wonderful' revival remains 'vital and relevant'
The Week Recommends The 'period-perfect' production features a 'universally excellent cast'
By The Week UK Published
-
'A great culture will be lost if the EV brigade gets its way'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Litigation will not save us from Trump'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballots
speed read They ruled that Colorado and other states cannot disqualify former President Donald Trump from federal office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Shut these dangerous and parasitical robots down before it's too late'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Has the government simply become too big to manage?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Putting party above country ultimately damages both'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Stop treating the Europeans as helpless little children'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published