Donald Trump and his allies successfully convinced many Americans that U.S. voting systems are flawed and unreliable in order to justify his attempts to remain in power after losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Today, much of that skepticism still endures. Americans now confront the problem of how to restore public trust in U.S. elections.
Straight Arrow News contributor John Fortier examines how U.S. elections have become more secure and more reliable since the hotly contested election of 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush. The progress that we have made in securing our elections since then, Fortier argues, should serve as a reassurance to all concerned Americans. Fortier then identifies some key areas where the United States could stand to achieve even more progress in the years ahead.
There has been tremendous improvement in the way we vote over the past 25 years. After one of the most contested presidential elections in our history in 2000, fundamental changes in the way we register to vote and cast votes have made our electoral system much more secure. Not perfect, but noticeably improved.
To understand these improvements and how difficult it is to reform American voting, it is useful to consider how American voting is different than voting elsewhere in the world in two important respects: We vote on many offices and have long ballots, and we have different rules and norms for voting in each state.
Consider our ballots. In many parliamentary democracies, a ballot often contains only one choice. You cast a vote for your party or party candidate for parliament once every several years. Perhaps there is another local election or EU election that occurs, but usually with only one race on the ballot per election.
Now, consider American voting. We vote for president, senator, House member, governor, state senator, state house member, often attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer. In many states we vote for judges. We often have state and local ballot questions. And if local elections are combined with federal, we vote for mayor or county board members, sheriffs, library trustees, coroners, and dog catchers. At the voting booth, a voter might answer twenty questions or more. Ballots are long. One consequence of these lengthy and complicated ballots is that we must rely on technology to help us count the vote. And some of the great skepticism of elections comes from those who question how that technology works.