With so many questions surrounding the previous three Presidential elections it begs us to ask if we need voting reform. I do not mean to revamp our system or to realign congressional districts or anything of that nature. All I am saying is that we need to figure out what we can do to prevent any fraud going forward.
The 2000 and 2004 elections results while conclusive, proved to somewhat put a dark cloud over our country and our election process. Questions surrounding the vote totals in certain states were common place, however no one could ever conclusively prove that there was any voter fraud what so ever.
Moving on to the 2008 election many more questions surfaced, numerous offices of a certain community organization group by the name of ACORN were raided and the raids provided some shocking and very serious issues. For example the entire starting offensive line of the Dallas Cowboys were fraudulently registered to vote in Las Vegas along with their Quarterback who was registered eight times and even Mickey Mouse who was registered more than twenty times.
So I beg to ask the question, should the states individually completely clear the registered voter logs and start from scratch or is there a better alternative available?
Here is my suggestion, each city and town in every state completely clear their databases of all registered voters and set up over the course of a week or two depending on how large the city or town is for their citizens to reregister. We could also look at this from a different angle, that being that instead of wiping out the database the cities and towns could require that each registered citizen present a state issued ID to a town official in order for them to be a certified voter. This process would cut back on time, expenses and man power. However this time in order to register the citizen would need to present a valid state issued ID ensuring that they are who they say they are.
The next step to preventing voter fraud would be to require each voter to present their ID each election in order to be allowed to vote. This would prove as a second line of defense in addition to having presented it at the time of registration. This process would simply confirm that you are who you say you are and protect your vote.
In addition it would also be a reasonable requirement that no one except for an official from the city or town process voter application cards. This way we can all be certain that ID’s will be thoroughly checked and double checked. Community organizations and get out the vote campaigns are good at getting people involved in the process however they should not be responsible for registrations. By all means they can pass out application cards and what not, however the actual registration process should be kept away from these groups.
One final step in the prevention of voter fraud would be to have the systems updated on either a daily or weekly basis by having the names of anyone who passed away removed. This simple step would prevent people from going in and voting multiple times by passing themselves off as someone who passed away.
While there is no fail safe method to any of this, keep in mind that these are only suggestions and common sense methods that will assist us in preventing voter fraud. By no means are these steps a violation of anyone civil rights or are they discriminatory, in reality they are precautions and efforts to protect them. Perhaps we can achieve some kind of success in the prevention of voter fraud by taking the necessary steps to prevent it instead of simply reacting to it after the fact. The choice is yours, you can either sit back or let everything we have worked for go to waste or be proud to stand up and fight to protect it!
Apr 29, 2009
Apr 7, 2009
America is the Greatest Nation Because...
What is so great about living in the United States of America? We are only afforded three basic rights, those being Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. We all are given an equal chance to be as successful or as unsuccessful as we desire to be. We are provided with a general sense of safety and security and these two simple functions are two of the three main functions that were given to the Federal Government by the Constitution along with unifying the states that compose the Union.
Once again I ask what is so great about living in the United States of America? Well we will now discuss all the things that make our nation great. We will focus on the good and only the good because this is meant to be a positive story and not a negative one.
The greatest document in the history of not only our free republic but of the world is the Constitution of the United States written by Thomas Jefferson and signed by all of the famous patriots of the day. The document was written in a manor to prevent the nation from becoming a democracy and also to prevent it from tyrannical rule. The document was also drafted to provide each of the nation’s citizens’ three basic rights those again being Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Life, what is life? Well life can be described as any living and breathing human being. We are provided with the basic right of life because without life we would not have a nation. We are all given the chance to live our lives and to live them in the manor we wish to live them and most importantly without the control of any kind by the Government.
Liberty, what is liberty? Liberty is freedom, so long as we the citizens of the United States obey a set of basic laws we are free to live our lives free of any government control. Laws are based on what is right and what is wrong not based on the feelings of politicians.
Pursuit of Happiness is simple, it is exactly what it states, the right to be happy in a life full of liberties. We are provided with a basic right to promote ourselves and to be as successful as we want or desire to be. We are free to do the things that make us happy and that give us warmth and a sense of joy.
The constitution also gave us the ability to amend the document in any way to further uphold the basic rights we are given. For example the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, this was necessary because the basic right of Liberty was not provided to a certain group of Americans based on their race. Another amendment gave another group of Americans the right to vote. These amendments were not only necessary, they were also very important in providing equal rights under the law.
Unlike most countries around the world we are provided with the rights to free speech and religion along with the basic right to bear arms. Most countries around the world control the media and arms while many others dictate religion.
The difference between a Democracy and a Republic is simple in a Republic laws are based on absolutes where as in a democracy laws are based on a simple majority. Looking at this from a simple point of view we take into consideration a simple child’s game.
If the game were a Democracy the rules for the game would be determined by the majority of the players. Often one player or team would benefit from the rules and would take advantage of them. Rules formed in this manor could potentially create fairness and/or safety issues not to mention tension between players or teams and possibly arguments or even fights.
Whereas if the game were a Republic all parties would have to agree on a set of rules before the game is played. If a certain rule was not agreed upon by all parties then it would have to be altered until agreed on or thrown out completely. In this situation each team would play to a predetermined set of rules agreed upon beforehand and all is fair.
If it is also agreed on beforehand that changes or amendments could be made to the agreed upon set of rules in the future to either prevent or stop one person or team from cheating or for safety reasons then such changes or amendments may be made so long as all parties agree to the rule changes.
A few simple yet major differences that may be described in the context of a simple child’s game and can either cause or prevent any potential issues. Like this child’s game the same situations may be seen in our government. The Constitution was a set of rules for government agreed upon by the founders of our nation. It was agreed that government was limited and each state was free to govern itself and that a set of basic rights would be provided to the people and the states.
In closing I will also discuss charity and charity is something that comes from the heart. We donate our money and our time to charities and causes we believe in. For example many donate in various manors to foundations such as the American Heart Association, the Alzheimer’s Association, the March of Dimes, and the Red Cross just to name a few. People donate to these causes because they believe in them and also because they either want to help in some way to find the cures for diseases or to help those in a time of need.
Charity is not something to be dictated by the government in the form of taxes and as previously stated we are all given an equal chance in life having been privileged enough to have been born here. We are free to help those that we feel deserve the help and those that are at least trying to help themselves. Most importantly we are individually able to determine who to help and how to help them.
Once again I ask what is so great about living in the United States of America? Well we will now discuss all the things that make our nation great. We will focus on the good and only the good because this is meant to be a positive story and not a negative one.
The greatest document in the history of not only our free republic but of the world is the Constitution of the United States written by Thomas Jefferson and signed by all of the famous patriots of the day. The document was written in a manor to prevent the nation from becoming a democracy and also to prevent it from tyrannical rule. The document was also drafted to provide each of the nation’s citizens’ three basic rights those again being Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Life, what is life? Well life can be described as any living and breathing human being. We are provided with the basic right of life because without life we would not have a nation. We are all given the chance to live our lives and to live them in the manor we wish to live them and most importantly without the control of any kind by the Government.
Liberty, what is liberty? Liberty is freedom, so long as we the citizens of the United States obey a set of basic laws we are free to live our lives free of any government control. Laws are based on what is right and what is wrong not based on the feelings of politicians.
Pursuit of Happiness is simple, it is exactly what it states, the right to be happy in a life full of liberties. We are provided with a basic right to promote ourselves and to be as successful as we want or desire to be. We are free to do the things that make us happy and that give us warmth and a sense of joy.
The constitution also gave us the ability to amend the document in any way to further uphold the basic rights we are given. For example the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, this was necessary because the basic right of Liberty was not provided to a certain group of Americans based on their race. Another amendment gave another group of Americans the right to vote. These amendments were not only necessary, they were also very important in providing equal rights under the law.
Unlike most countries around the world we are provided with the rights to free speech and religion along with the basic right to bear arms. Most countries around the world control the media and arms while many others dictate religion.
The difference between a Democracy and a Republic is simple in a Republic laws are based on absolutes where as in a democracy laws are based on a simple majority. Looking at this from a simple point of view we take into consideration a simple child’s game.
If the game were a Democracy the rules for the game would be determined by the majority of the players. Often one player or team would benefit from the rules and would take advantage of them. Rules formed in this manor could potentially create fairness and/or safety issues not to mention tension between players or teams and possibly arguments or even fights.
Whereas if the game were a Republic all parties would have to agree on a set of rules before the game is played. If a certain rule was not agreed upon by all parties then it would have to be altered until agreed on or thrown out completely. In this situation each team would play to a predetermined set of rules agreed upon beforehand and all is fair.
If it is also agreed on beforehand that changes or amendments could be made to the agreed upon set of rules in the future to either prevent or stop one person or team from cheating or for safety reasons then such changes or amendments may be made so long as all parties agree to the rule changes.
A few simple yet major differences that may be described in the context of a simple child’s game and can either cause or prevent any potential issues. Like this child’s game the same situations may be seen in our government. The Constitution was a set of rules for government agreed upon by the founders of our nation. It was agreed that government was limited and each state was free to govern itself and that a set of basic rights would be provided to the people and the states.
In closing I will also discuss charity and charity is something that comes from the heart. We donate our money and our time to charities and causes we believe in. For example many donate in various manors to foundations such as the American Heart Association, the Alzheimer’s Association, the March of Dimes, and the Red Cross just to name a few. People donate to these causes because they believe in them and also because they either want to help in some way to find the cures for diseases or to help those in a time of need.
Charity is not something to be dictated by the government in the form of taxes and as previously stated we are all given an equal chance in life having been privileged enough to have been born here. We are free to help those that we feel deserve the help and those that are at least trying to help themselves. Most importantly we are individually able to determine who to help and how to help them.
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