America is an extraordinary place, but there’s much sadness in the fact. We are extraordinary in part because we are a free people, yet that condition is one that should be universal. It’s not — much of the world lives and dies under selfish, oppressive dictatorship.
Our freedoms depend on the respect and deference to the rights of the individual, and the utter dependence of government as an instrumentality of a free people. On the power of citizens as voters to elect their representatives for discrete times and duties rests our security from pernicious authority.
The right to vote is not a gift or entitlement to government; it is a bulwark against oppressive government, and a reminder that all legitimate authority derives from the consent of the governed.
America has had more than one recent election controversy. The close partisan divide between her two major parties — and the spoils that a victorious party comes to control — make additional controversies likely.
Locally, there are three things that are essential to our political integrity.
First, we must offer all those who can lawfully vote a place and convenient opportunity to do so. We were right to establish a second polling place in town; cities have several or dozens of polling places.
Second, we must treat each and every citizen who may lawfully vote in the same manner, making special allowance for those who are disabled. The are no categories of ‘senior’ and ‘junior’ voters: there are merely those who are eligible to vote.
I know, and you know, too, that sometimes older residents look upon younger voters as lesser voters. There is no such category at law, and the social prejudice that sees this distinction is both legally wrong and laughable. A legitimate voter is a legitimate voter is a legitimate voter. There is no reason to respect a social prejudice that stands in the way of lawful rights. Self-appointed town fathers and aging matrons have no authority to trump the law because of their cramped, narrow view of the world.
I would as soon ask a drunk his opinion of sobriety as our town fathers their opinion of propriety.
Third, I believe that we should enforce respectfully and politely the full measure of our election laws on registration and voting.
(There is a recent effort of Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to require election officials to conform to 2006 federal elections requirements. See, for example, Van Hollen Files Lawsuit On Voter Identity. His lawsuit stems from a state board’s decision not to check voter registration between Jan. 1, 2006 and Aug. 6, 2008 as required by the Help America Vote Act of 2006. Democrats charge Van Hollen’s action is politically motivated; they have filed an open records request to learn more about the motivation of his actions. I will set aside the merits of Van Hollen’s effort, and speak generally.)
There is far too much concern about election laws in America, and the best course is to comply fairly, politely, and closely. If our existing federal laws should prove too burdensome, a future Congress may repeal or amend them. Until that time, cities and counties should not be in the position to pick and choose.
We, in Whitewater, should comply with all applicable federal laws, as we should with state law. We should not, and must not, disregard either federal or state law for local considerations. Other communities may take a different course, but our best course is full compliance with state and federal law.