While it may appear as if our elections have gone haywire, they have been fraught with challenges since the beginning of the republic. The Constitution took effect in 1789 after the first federal elections. It didn’t include express protection of the right to vote and it was left to the states to determine who was eligible to vote. State legislators generally limited voting to white males who owned land.
For the first fifty years, voting wasn’t done privately or with a ballot. Instead, citizens went to the local courthouse and cast their ballot out loud, a practice known as “vica voce,” or voice voting. Paper ballots began appearing in the early 19th Century but weren’t standardized or printed by election officials.
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution as a compromise between a vote in Congress and a popular vote by the people. The Twelfth Amendment of 1804 altered the original design of the Constitution, which had previously allowed the candidate with the most votes to be elected president, followed by the second-leading candidate as vice president. In 1796 and 1800 political opponents were elected as president and vice president and were at cross-purposes throughout their terms, hence the change.
The Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 prohibited the denial of voting rights based on race.
This policy was circumvented throughout the South by Jim Crow laws encompassing poll taxes, literacy tests and violence. By 1910 Voting Machines were being used. A decade later, women received the right to vote following the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. Native
Americans followed in 1924 with the passage of the Indian Citizen Act. Despite such changes pushback continued unabated until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 26th Amendment in 1971 lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years.
Election results have been contested since 1800 when candidates Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr ran for office. Alexander Hamilton plotted to have Jefferson elected and was killed in retaliation by Burr during a duel in 1804. The elections between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams of 1824, Abraham Lincoln and John Breckinridge of 1860, Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes of 1876, George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000, and Donald J. Trump and Joe Biden 2020 were all contested with alleged charges of corruption, lying, and theft.
What has changed in the current election regarding issues of election integrity is the capacity of citizens to access a multiplicity of sources for information. No longer limited to the family, community, house of worship, local paper, and television station, any voter can peruse articles, documents, and reports from around the globe. The challenge to such an opportunity is the difficulty in determining the veracity of every piece and the tendency to become overwhelmed by a plethora of choices and opinions.
Crime, the economy, immigration, inflation, FEMA’s response to disasters, and multiple wars around the globe are pressing issues for a majority of the population. This coupled with Biden unexpectedly dropping out and being replaced by Harris, assassination attempts towards Trump and allegations of noncitizens being registered to vote have contributed to an overwhelming sense of concern about a lack of transparency throughout the process.
Running mate J.D. Vance came under scrutiny for his “childless cat ladies” comment while Tim Walz was criticized for his lack of leadership during the riots in Minneapolis and his inability to prevent a 500 million dollar theft of federal funds during COVID-19.
I walked over to Nyack Library on election day to speak with staff working the polls in the community room. Although it was the end of a long, busy day they were eager to talk. Several voters signed in while others stood at machines as we spoke. Board of Election employee and site manager Deborah Cracovia offered insight into her perspective regarding the election process.
“We were extremely busy most of the day. Quite a few people we haven’t seen in a long time voted. Everyone was civil, excited, and eager to make their voices heard,” she noted.
“I studied psychology, and what I’ve seen in terms of most of the publicity for the election is that everything is biased and skewed with little or no bipartisan perspective,” she added.
Peter Muller, another volunteer, offered his opinion.
“Most of the people serving at this polling station have worked together for years. One man has volunteered since 2008. I’ve been here since 2020. It’s a nice group of people. We work together well. The voters were wonderfully patient and the early election voting statistics were terrific, as they doubled,” he stated.
I asked whether he had any concerns regarding the outcome.
“My greatest concern is the national debt. We’re well over the breaking limit at seven trillion,” he said.
While it may appear humorous to watch candidates serve fries at McDonald’s, drive a garbage truck or appear on Saturday Night Live, the concerns of citizens are valid and must be addressed for us to move forward as a nation.
