This Is the True Election Corruption

As I write this, President Trump and his team are gearing up to launch a legal battle against several states claiming election fraud in multiple ways. I think we all know how this is going to go. There will be another drawn-out, exhausting news cycle covering yet another partisan political battle for the next month or so. Ultimately, it won’t change anything and Biden will be sworn in as president in January. There are many reasons the results of these legal challenges won’t amount to anything but for the sake of this argument let’s forget electoral college math and probability and let’s just focus on the claims of election and voter fraud.

While there are too many claims circulating right now for me, someone who isn’t a reporter, to keep up with. I have seen enough to know that a large number of challenges brought have already been struck down by judges in various states because there was no grounding for the claims. Additionally, the claims that are still standing are either based on claims of one person thinking “something suspicious” happened but not being able to say what or they are completely baseless saying that states didn’t follow correct procedures. It seems to me that there may be some minor claims of ballot mishandling which may be true but was likely just human error and ultimately won’t sway anything. All of this to say that while various claims of election fraud are circulating right now, none of them are pointing to the true problems of our electoral system.

There are very strict verification processes occurring all the way up the chain from the individuals counting the ballots to precinct location officials making sure everything is following procedure, to officials at the state level tasked with verifying reported results from each precinct and reporting them to the press.

In fact, they are probably pointing at the BEST part of our electoral system. I, for one, trust the electoral tallying system to a very high degree. There are very strict verification processes occurring all the way up the chain from the individuals counting the ballots to precinct location officials making sure everything is following procedure, to officials at the state level tasked with verifying reported results from each precinct and reporting them to the press. If we want to start a real discussion of election corruption we need to rewind the clock all the way back to the primaries.

First, however, we need to understand that there are three major players when it comes to politics that we need to keep tabs on. First, people already in the government. Second, big-dollar donors whether they be individuals, lobbying groups, or corporations. And lastly, the media. If corruption isn’t occurring when votes are being cast, counted, or reported then it must be occurring before or after the votes. And this is the genius of how those in charge have figured out how to epically screw us. Every cycle we are given the choice between two pretty terrible candidates and we are left to choose between the lesser of two evils which ultimately will benefit these three groups well no matter who gets chosen. How does this happen? This is where big-dollar donors come in.

Essentially, the system of reelection works by candidates keeping their promises to their donors, effectively selling out their constituents, and making this entire show just about getting elected and then reelected. These elected representatives now only represent their donors’ interests.

When running in a primary especially, it’s usually a matter of who spends the most money to get in front of the most people who end up winning or at least having a shot to win. Big dollar donors make sure to pick the candidates that would benefit them and strongly suggest that they must get something in return for these donations. Perhaps more relaxed regulations on their industry or tax-cuts once the candidate is in office. In a lot of cases, you’ll see these donors donate to multiple candidates so they win either way. This then brings us to people in the government. Essentially, the system of reelection works by candidates keeping their promises to their donors, effectively selling out their constituents, and making this entire show just about getting elected and then reelected. These elected representatives now only represent their donors’ interests.

Lastly, we land on the media. If it weren’t already bad enough that the wealthiest among us and the most powerful among us are teaming up now we have to worry about the most influential among us. Sometimes, these categories overlap as mainstream media is owned by very wealthy people who have specific political interests. This creates an environment of journalism that encourages bias and certain narratives (or get fired) which then gets broadcast to everyone in the country. So now we have a situation where the media is telling us who to vote for, those candidates are getting the most money, and then when they get in office they pay their dues to the media and their donors. Yet, no problem here right? The votes were reported accurately, the people elected these candidates so what’s the problem? Well, the problem is that people are being influenced to pick these manufactured choices that are inherently bad for those same people and it’s completely legal. That is the problem. That is true election corruption and we saw all of this play out with Joe Biden culminating on Super Tuesday when the nomination was effectively robbed from progressives.

So what do we do about it? I’m glad you asked. There are a few key policies that could completely change this process forever. First, Democracy Dollars. Democracy Dollars is the idea that every voter gets $100/calendar year that they can only donate to political campaigns, use it or lose it. This makes it so that people who don’t have disposable income to be donating to a campaign can still influence electoral politics early in the cycle rather than just at the end with the manufactured choices. This also would outweigh corporate lobbying money 4:1 meaning that politicians now must listen to their constituents to get re-elected instead of just their big donors. Next, is a local journalism fund. We need to fund local journalism to keep unbiased and relevant reporting real. It is a dying breed as we see all the media in the country being compacted into just a few companies which are biased and have their interests further than good reporting. Additionally, this would help end the obsession with a 24/7 national news cycle which shouldn’t be a thing but has been kept alive by partisan fighting to make sure there’s a show. The last big policy is Approval Voting. Approval Voting works by making it so we can choose any number of candidates in a race rather than just one, effectively stating you’d approve of them getting the job. This makes it so we are no longer bound by the lesser of two evils choices or strategic voting such as “I don’t think he can win” even if you liked that candidate the most.

While you may be unhappy with how an election turns out and you may be right about corruption leading to their election, that actually happened way before election day. If you really want to see the system fixed it’s going to take more than some legal battles challenging a few thousand battles and it’s going to take more than election day protests.

As you can see, the complaints about the system being broken are completely valid however Trump and his supporters are looking in the wrong place. While you may be unhappy with how an election turns out and you may be right about corruption leading to their election, that actually happened way before election day. If you really want to see the system fixed it’s going to take more than some legal battles challenging a few thousand battles and it’s going to take more than election day protests. It will take a complete overhaul of the power-hold the most powerful among us have on the system and the national narrative and that could take years and we’ll likely face a real fight. But it will be entirely worth it to have a truly representative and uncorrupt system again. So before you direct your energy and attention to election day and thinking one party is corrupt, take a look at how the system is meant to benefit those at the top, no matter what side you’re on, and how the people end up getting screwed over no matter who wins.