Letter to the Editor, Aug. 11, 2021: Voting: ideal antidote to election fraud claims

to election fraud claims

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Notwithstanding the dangers posed by the surging delta variant, COVID-19 is not the only contagion about which Virginians currently need be concerned. A voter suppression virus untethered to reality also appears to be establishing a foothold in the Old Dominion.

State Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, is calling for a forensic audit of Virginia’s 2020 election results. Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin granted legitimacy to the recent election integrity summit at Liberty University by making a marquee appearance at that conclave of election fraud alarmists. Curiously, news media were notably barred from the event despite the organizers’ claims that their purpose is to assure honesty and transparency in our electoral processes.

The facts belie such high-minded assertions. There is no credible evidence to support the contention that elections in Virginia or elsewhere in this nation are routinely marred by fraud, mistake or malfeasance at levels likely to influence election outcomes. The goal of those who peddle false election fraud narratives is to suppress voter participation and dilute the power of popular majorities.

Republican election law expert Benjamin Ginsberg recently noted that “a party that’s increasingly old and white whose base is a diminishing share of the population is conjuring up charges of fraud to erect barriers to voting for people it fears won’t support its candidates.” That, in a nutshell, is the animating principle that fuels Republican election integrity campaigns nationwide.

Fortunately, Virginians have a vaccine for this political sophistry. We can turn out and vote in droves in November and reject any candidate who by word or deed lends support to the notion that employing election integrity barriers to suppress lawful voter participation is acceptable in a free, democratic society. Voting remains the ideal antidote to “the big lie” of election fraud.

Mark Ailsworth.