Elle Purnell writes for the Federalist about the importance of boosting voters’ basic knowledge about election integrity.
Election administration is like industrial food production. The average person doesn’t really know — or care to know — how the sausage gets made, but he cares very much the moment it smells fishy.
A Morning Consult poll commissioned by the Public Affairs Council last fall found that just 37 percent of Americans believe the 2024 election “will be both honest and open to all eligible voters.” A University of Central Florida exit poll in January found that a third — 33.5 percent — of voters were either “not very” or “not at all” confident the 2024 election would be conducted fairly.
Many Americans instinctively recognize that without free and fair elections, our representative government and the freedoms it guarantees are jeopardized. And yet, start talking with your neighbors about the nuances of election law and administration (or just mention the word “audit” or “provisional ballot”) and their eyes probably glaze over.
Some are terrified of being slapped with the idiotic but intimidating smear of “election denier.” The corporate media have done their best to elevate the small minority of outlandish conversations about election security while pretending sincere and articulate concerns don’t exist.
But you don’t have to be a legal expert to understand the most fundamental things about what makes elections free and secure. …
… Confusion creates opportunities for both intentional and unintentional wrongdoing. Lax policies that make it more likely election officials don’t know who a voter is, where he lives, whether he is eligible to vote, or even whether he has already voted invite chaos and undermine order. Bad actors can more easily take advantage of bad election laws, and innocent Americans can also unknowingly err when the rules aren’t clear and precise.
