Loss of election system credibility is going to sink our ship unless we recover from political shock quickly! Continued exposure to lies, abuses of power, criminal allegations, and election fraud have left us with our heads spinning. Many unanswered questions remain after the pretentious inauguration celebration. Assimilation of what was revealed by the 2020 presidential election disaster will take time because we are understandably “in shock”.
- Why the continued military occupation of Washington DC?
- Why the brazen censorship of conservatives by tech giants?
- Why the unanswered Biden crime allegations?
- Why all the fake news?
- Why the second impeachment?
- Why the unanswered challenges and first-hand observations of voting/ election fraud?
- Why the new level of hatred and partisan polarization? (Reflect on one of our patriotic “boasts”: “E pluribus unum”?)
Healing will take a lot of answers and time, but immediate damage control is needed! As the source of constitutional authority, we have an immediately pressing civic duty: Fix our election system! It is an open question whether our presidential votes will ever mean anything again unless we restore the credibility of the vote of respective States, starting with our own. State action must overwhelm the US House Democrat majority initiative to control elections – as revealed in their HR1! HR1 reveals congressional insanity. It pours gasoline on the crisis when we need rational deliberation. It is time for State action.
State legislatures are the essential key if we want to cast a “vote of confidence” in our constitutional values. The Constitution cannot stand if we do not have credible elections, and credible elections are maintained by State laws and policies. It would be difficult to overstate the need for immediate action. The cost of total federal rejection of the constitution is unthinkable. This puts us in a real bind because we have perhaps less confidence in our Alaska State Legislature than we have in congress! I am appealing to you to ignore your understandable distaste for the job and immediately do something to repair (or initiate) your relationship with state legislators— even if you suspect, or know, they are not good! As a retired legislator, I promise you they are human and cannot ignore you if you communicate with some humility. Don’t hesitate to speak even if they respond with disrespectful silence. Speak through legislative staff— they get the “face time” stolen from you by the imposed remote “government island”. If you invest in real communication, you cannot be ignored for long because you really do “own” them – they work for you. If you cannot get past your disdain, we may lose a very critical battle and maybe the war!
At least three legislators seem to share this concern. The election system must be essentially re-certified. Because your vote put them there, we should be able to move the majority of 60 Alaskan legislators to action. Sen Shower, Sen Hughes, and Rep Rauscher have introduced SB39, SB43, and HB23. Senator Shower’s (SB39) is getting hearings. Sen Shower (my Senator) clearly explained his intent to restore the credibility of the Alaska voting system in the first public hearing — precisely the point of this editorial! Again, this may be the most significant issue before us at the moment, the one we can do something about! If you think not, please review the previous paragraphs. This issue supersedes our unsustainable spending bills, the COVID chaos, and even the PFD! I am pleading with you to help Sen Shower force SB39, or a similar bill, onto center-stage for passage. America’s Republic depends upon counting legal votes with integrity!
SB39 suffered partisan attack before it was even heard. Sen Shower publicly invited everyone to participate in shaping this bill to put our elections above reproach. He was forced to waste introduction time refuting knee-jerk lies and ignorance about the bill. In just a few short weeks, SB39 will be either essentially “dead” (stuck in committee because of lack of demands for hearings) or it will have moved to Finance or Rules Committee indicating it has “legs” (driven by the passionate engagement of Alaskans – you). By the time you read this there should be committee votes and comments on the record to give you something to speak about. Please do your magic and invest in this. Educational Note: To find the comments on record, search for “Alaska State Legislature” (or simply type akleg.gov); then click on “Bills and Laws”; then click on “Bills”; then click on “Subject Summary”. There you will find “elections” among many other subjects. (http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Subject/32?subject=ELECTIONS )
A parting shot at one ignorant partisan attack— the blanket denial that we have a problem! This is so childish and obviously motivated by some perceived self-interest. It was clearly parroted, on the record, against SB39. No, you do not need proof that we have a problem in order to engage in a transparent, bi-partisan positive confirmation of our voting system! Legislators of both parties NEED only to act quickly to ensure our legal votes count to retain our right to our electoral vote.
This was also submitted as an article to The People’s Paper.