Question re: Elections

Answer's from Conservatives, Moderates and Liberals

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Question

What do you like and/or dislike about the way elections are managed in the US?

Answers

• Carl (conservative): I have a friend who thinks that the more people who vote, the better. He makes no allowance for knowledge or desire or conscientiousness. In essence, he subscribes to Mencken's quip: Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. I could not disagree more. As poor as our voter turnout has historically been, I would prefer it was even lower if it would mean better informed voters. 
  

  Also:

  • I love the electoral college.  

  • I think voting should be in person and perhaps a national holiday or similar sort of situation. 

  • I think one should have to show some form of identification to vote. 

  • I think voting is a duty and a privilege.
    

• Scott from Rochester, Michigan (conservative): I've been fortunate to live and work globally, including nearly 6 years in China. We can vote here and we can provide our input / dissent to our government representatives, as compared to China. 
  

  Re: Accuracy of our vote counting process, I have seen no credible evidence through the court systems that our election process is flawed where one candidate / party is favored.  
  

• Joe (conservative/moderate):
  - Early voting should only be allowed 1 week before the election. 
  - Ballot harvesting should be illegal. 
  - Voter ID should be enforced. 
  - Non citizens should not be allowed to vote (I am worried about this item as in most states, when you get a driver's license you are automatically registered to vote. Not sure the DMV checks the citizenship of the applicant).
  

• KD in Michigan (independent): I am unsure how President Biden is the Democratic candidate based on the reactions of the CNN Democrat commentators immediately following the debate. After his performance in the 2020 debates, we were told it was due to his stuttering.  I would like to see a side by side of him answering questions on immigration 2020 vs 2024.  
  
  Why is it frowned upon to question the integrity of a government run program?
  

• Liz in VA (moderate):
  Full disclosure: I am a poll worker in my county, and have been one since 2016. I am speaking as an individual. I know how the process works in my county, and it does. I know there are three checks on the voting totals and internal controls in place to account for all ballots.  I like how we look to constantly improve voting processes to make the system easier for voters while retaining internal controls to ensure accuracy. 
  
  What I dislike: 
  (1) lack of national standards on how to register and what is an acceptable voting system. This push to hand count is a result of people not knowing that any manual system has more inherent flaws than a verified automated system with multiple internal controls. Set the standards and every state selects a verified system.
  (2) Native-born US Citizens have no idea how the voting process works. We no longer teach civics so they do not understand how their individual vote goes into the overall total. 
  (3) The lack of a national voter registration database. When the nonpartisan Election Registration Information System (ERIC) was rejected by Republican governors after the 2020 election, we are now in a situation where the most effective check on voters registered and voting in multiple jurisdictions is missing key data, and the Republican governors are spending a FORTUNE to build a new version of an already functioning system.   
  (4) Restrictive voting registration. Depending on what state I can register at the DMV (motor voter), or I can register at a voter drive (ex League of Women Voters). However, some states have more extensive limitations on who can register voters and what identifications are valid for voter registration. Greater participation = greater democracy.
  

• Geoff Wise (centrist):
  - Good: Local running of elections, generally by county officials who are committed to conducting fair and accurate elections.
  - Good: Election results are tallied and reported quickly and are publicly available, as are voter registration lists.
  - Good: The frequency of elections is reasonable, though I could see moving to three-year terms for legislators to space out the cycles more.
  - Bad: Single-member districts drive winner-take-all polarization, reducing the number of voices at the policy-making table. Independents have no chance.
  - Bad: As election campaigns are privately funded, money has too much influence in politics. More than half of representatives' time is spent on fundraising. 

  Money buys access and influence. Corporations are allowed to contribute to campaigns. Political Action Committees coordinate too much with candidates.
  

• Nina (moderate): I think elections are managed well in the US. I have great admiration for local officials and volunteers that are dedicated to their work and wish they were given more thanks and respect. My only suggestion for change would be for voter registration- making it easier or even automatic. I would also be in favor of mandatory voting (similar to the Belgium system where ample time is given to vote and small fines are applied if one does not vote).
  

• Maggie Smith (progressive): I have never understood the primary system. It forces Americans to settle on two candidates that often have the most money and political backing. Ask yourselves, how many times have you gone to the polls and asked which candidate is the better of two evils? The Senate needs another review. States that are less populated (e.g. Wyoming and Alaska) than states with large populations (e.g. New York and California) have equal say in policy and legislation decisions that may impact our entire country. The Electoral college needs to be eliminated as it provides a means to corrupt the entire election process for President. If the majority of the US voted for a particular candidate, they would win.
  

• John from Michigan (independent): In Michigan, I believe that we are doing a pretty good job with election security and accessibility. I help by counting absentee ballots for a nearby community on election day. I see firsthand the commitment to accurately counting the ballots and the strict processes that are required. Legislation was passed after 2020 which protects the voting process even more. We now have 9 days of early voting. That might be over the top.
  

  I like that I can choose to vote absentee regardless of my situation, because I can get the ballot early and do research on the choices. I don’t have to guess when I get to my voting location if I find a question that I didn’t know was going to be on the ballot. When I am done, I can either mail it postage-paid, or drop it in our local drop box. The convenience is nice.
  

  I don’t like that 6–8 states seem to get 90% of the attention, and that many voters in non-battleground states are irrelevant on the margin. I live in a battleground state, and I wonder if people who live in some other states feel ignored. This problem is caused by the structure of the electoral college. I believe we need to do away with that now. The reasons for its original creation are gone, and without it, every state would get a level of attention that is proportionate to their voting population. It seems unlikely that our government can get its act together on this large of a change, so I am hopeful that the National Popular Vote initiative will be successful.
  

• Dan Mariano (progressive-leaning liberal): I really appreciate how much our elections rely upon civic engagement; that our elections are often run and overseen by our very neighbors. It enables and enforces a sense of trust and community that allows for making our voices heard and is all the more immediate in our day to day lives.
  

  I do believe that our elections operate in a pretty seamless, and very near perfect way, leaving incredibly little room for fraud. Not to suggest that elections haven’t been highly scrutinized and suspect in the past, but when operated completely by the book our elections are very secure.
  
  What I don’t like about our election management is its lack of more universality amongst states. This is offset by my appreciation for states conducting elections in their own way, in theory. But the range of state by state differences do open the window for lengthy counting, recounting, and differences in process speed which creates vulnerability for political figures to sow doubts and generate their own narratives about election integrity.
  

This post is part of a Q&A series with voters who have volunteered
to share their perspectives leading up to the November 2024 election.

Back to INDEX of Questions and Answers

About the VOTERS we interviewed

Note: The views and opinions expressed by volunteer contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Union, a single-issue organization that welcomes all and is dedicated to protecting democracy.

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