Contested electionThe Leader Editorial: Let the Election Recount Process Play Out

Published 11 November 2020

In 2000, Vice President Al Gore was losing the State of Florida - and thus the election. But rather than concede, Gore filed lawsuits and demanded selected recounts of counties more favorable to him. The Florida recounts took five weeks, and George Bush ultimately won. But no one begrudged Gore his right to review and contest the results. Donald Trump - and his volunteers and supporters - should be able to review the ballot count without being called sore losers or disrupters.

It is a full week after Election Day, and U.S. Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) is still trailing by 4,000 votes. Yet there are no calls for him to concede or stop reviewing paper ballots. The reason is simple - the mail-in ballot count in New York only begins later this week, and Suozzi is still likely to win. That same logic should also apply to the recounts being demanded by President Donald Trump in a half dozen states where the vote is razor-thin, and recounts could change the results.

In 2000, Vice President Al Gore was losing the State of Florida - and thus the election. But rather than concede, Gore filed lawsuits and demanded selected recounts of counties more favorable to him. The Florida recounts took five weeks, and George Bush ultimately won. But no one begrudged Gore his right to review and contest the results.

The media reaction to the Trump recounts has been enraged and hysterical. CNN’s Jake Tapper called for personal vengeance against any Republican lawyer working on the recounts. And the Washington Post called for Republican volunteers to be fired and “canceled” from their jobs. This approach is more appropriate for non-democratic systems of government.

The truth is that 2020 saw an explosion of unsecured “mail-in balloting.” States distributed paper ballots like confetti. New Jersey mailed ballots - actual ballots - out to every name - every name - on their voter rolls. Never mind that tens of thousands were dead, and hundreds of thousands had moved. Envelopes containing actual ballots piled-up in apartment building mail rooms like junk catalogs. In New York, anyone with a computer could go online and “click” to order a ballot. No proof of identity. And the ballot would be mailed to any third-party address requested - any address. Over 40 million mail-in ballots were received in 2020, many of which are still uncounted.

Reporters “tested” New York’s unsecured “mail-in ballot” system by going online, impersonating voters, and ordering a dozen ballots delivered to a third party. All the ballots were delivered. All without the knowledge of the actual voter. Those ballots were then delivered to the intended voters, but a fraudster would have filled-in and voted the fraudulent ballots. And the fraud would not stop at a dozen ballots. A small group of activists working over a few weeks could get 100,000 fraudulent ballots - all with virtually no risk of being caught.

According to the National Vote at Home Institute - which actually advocates for mail-in postal ballots - “32 states are missing major pieces of policy or best practices that ensure a secure mail ballot process,” including 15 states which lack steps to verify voters’ addresses, 17 which do not mandate a signature verification process, and 30 do not have adequate options to cure defects in voter signatures. In many systems voters have no way to remedy disqualifications due to signature mismatches.” .”

That is why the 2020 election was deeply flawed. And why Tom Suozzi - and Donald Trump - and their volunteers and supporters - should be able to review the ballot count without threats or harassment.

This editorial is published courtesy of The Leader newspapers