And this is how democracies die – a lack of faith in the elections that are held, which are less and less trusted by just enough of the population so as to infect the entire process anyway. Democracy is, ultimately, a compact – the belief that even a loss in this election is better than the loss of democracy all together and future elections. That belief is no longer held by at least a minority of voters, the question is whether the majority can hold it back. Democracy really can be lost overnight – and it doesn’t take a majority, only a significant enough minority. The repair can take decades, generations – if ever.
We see a symptom coming out of Vancouver, Washington – in what one would hope is an isolated incident, and yet one that fails to appropriately shock us. A ballot box was seen burning in the Washington area north of Portland. A reporter and photographer from KATU was able to secure images of the smoking mess. The report suspects that hundreds of ballots were burned beyond repair – only some to be saved. Whose ballot burned? Who knows? Hopefully all care. As Rawstory relayed, KATU reported:
“The Clark County auditor told us that the last ballot pickup at that location was 8 a.m. Sunday. Hundreds of ballots were inside at the time of the burning, and KATU was told there are maybe only a few that can be saved.”
Ballot Box Fire – A Clark County Elections ballot drop box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center is smoking heavily. Police are on scene. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/40E09hZolz
— Evan Bell (@evanbellKATU) October 28, 2024
So, now what? It is the state of Washington – at least, this burnt box – a state that will most assuredly go to Harris, but it also impacts races on the undercard, especially Congress and local elections. But what if it happened in a blue part of Philadelphia and an estimated 5,000 ballots were destroyed? Now what? Or what if they were burned in a very red area of the same state? The same sinking feeling hits the gut. It doesn’t matter in the least – the compact is broken. The election in the state is up for dispute. There would likely be retaliation. It thus starts.
They have elections in Russia. It’s true. They just don’t matter. No one trusts them, and hence no one really cares. As reported by Vox:
As expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin has won his fifth term in office, following a campaign in which all his significant rivals were barred from running, imprisoned, or dead. Voting started Friday and concluded Sunday. Putin won the contest with over 87 percent of the vote, with a reported 77 percent turnout.
Suffice it to say that Vladimir Putin won’t risk a loss in any one election to preserve any semblance of democracy – not needed. Russia is corrupt, perhaps explaining why it has the natural resources of Canada and five times the population – yet about the same G.D.P. – democracies are generally profitable, at least to the many.
So what about here, are we headed toward a dictatorship where elections don’t matter? Where everything is corrupt? Most of us – including, probably – most Trump supporters, still believe that democracy is worth preserving… just maybe not this time, or whatever. Once the compact is broken it is very hard to say, “Well, maybe next time, we’ll let them have a run at it… ”
No – it doesn’t work that way. Either the country reacts in outrage or it doesn’t. Why does it feel like it would all come down to who burned a box and where it happened? It really shouldn’t. No matter who is responsible for this incident or who might be in the future – it should shake us all to the core.
Will it? It probably depends on who it was, which is all that need be said. The compact has to be between everyone or, by definition, it is already lost.
God Bless:Â I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak
Citizens can check online and see if their ballot was cleared. If not, go get a new one! There are work arounds for this type of terrorism.
Same happened here in Phoenix AZ last week but it was stated that it wasn’t politically motivated. The perpetrator said he “just wanted to be arrested”. I assume it was most likely a homeless person that needed a place to sleep and a few meals.
Fuckers can’t win on policies, ideas, hell, even on their personalities. I guess arson is their last best hope?
Hopefully Clark County has a good ballot tracking system in place. I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of MT’s ballot tracking, registration look-up, etc. Pretty easy here. Folks living in this voting district/state-check with your SoS and make sure that if your ballot was one of the ones burned beyond repair, that you get another–quickly. Don’t leave this one on the back burner, for the last day. Check it NOW!
Clark County is a hot bed of Proud Boiz. They used to come down to Salem to hold protests against Planned Parenthood, Governor Kate Brown, Gay Pride events, etc. We haven’t seen their ilk for a while, but this sounds like something they’d get behind. I don’t know why people panic about the folks crossing the southern border when these a**holes are already here, and it’s this reprehensible crowd that fund themselves through selling drugs, guns, etc., just like they accuse the border crossers of doing. Right wing scumbags.
In Portland fire suppression devices inside the box helped put out the fire almost immediately, saving hundreds of ballots inside. Only three ballots were damaged. In Vancouver there were not.
As we navigate 100% Vote by Mail we will learn. Washington needs to install fire suppression devices in drop boxes. However, we have a robust ballot tracking and notification system that voters can sign up for. You get a text every step of the way.