Dakota Beacon

It’s time now to put some discussion out there on the table revolving around the election of 2020.  Firstly, I want to put my own opinions out there.  Then I want to suggest some actions and solicit the opinions and ideas of others.

1.  We do not really know what the vote count was in 2020.  Sure, we swore in a man, Joe Biden, as President.  And the press coronated him and dismissed Trump as the “loser”. 

2. We saw massive rallies all summer long - not just large, impressive crowds, but hundreds of thousands of people peacefully congregating to hear Trump’s case and show support for his candidacy.  In contrast, we seldom saw Biden outside anywhere, occasionally out having an ice cream cone.  I recall one “rally” for Biden where hula-hoop-like things were placed for single occupancy.  At the very end of the campaign, at an airport in Rochester, Minnesota, some 25,000 people came to hear Trump.  Governor Tim Walz’s government responded by restricting attendance to a mere 2,500, arbitrarily.  The rest of the people remained, assembled outside of the airport, along the roadway to show support and stayed to the finish.  

3. On election night counting was interrupted - something that never happens.  It was revealed that against regulations there were internet hookups to vote-counting machines in some locations.   Many other irregularities were in evidence - in one major city, paper was put up over windows so no one could observe any counting.  Vans loaded with ballots were brought in after hours from who knows where.  Ballots were harvested under some questionable circumstances in places like Minneapolis, especially from immigrants.  In Atlanta, there was a famous “water main break”.  We saw no evidence of water, but this, we were told, was why counting had to stop there.  We saw camera footage of people bringing bins of ballots out from under covered tables after pollwatchers had been sent home.  Poll watchers should never have been sent home.  Judges shold not have been sent home.   Counting should not have been interrupted.  We heard about people being told by officials to use certain markers to mark their ballots - which turned out to be unreadable by the counting devices.  While watching early returns, I personally saw - and verified with others watching with me - the vote count for Trump GO DOWN - DECREASE - on the chiron below the commentators.  This is impossible to happen legitimately.  It cannot happen.  Numbers had to have been reversed.  No doubt there were other instances.  Dr. Shiva Ayyuradai showed with actual data how these “errors” can occur.  

4. Due to some of these doubts, the legislature of Wisconsin asked that their certification of their vote be withdrawn so as to effect a recount.  It was up to V.P. Mike Pence to either accede to their request or override it.  We all know what he did.

5. The unrest which occurred on January 6 came about when a peaceful crowd came to Washington to demonstrate support for Trump and to show their lack of confidence in the process and the result.  It went from peaceful to rowdy when agents provocateurs on the government payroll and under government direction stormed the Capitol building.  It is significant to note here that the only lives lost were those of citizens there in support of Trump, despite stories circulated by the press to the contrary.  The aftermath was years of hunting down those who were present that day, arresting them, charging some, holding them all indefinitely, most without trial, most with no access to attorneys.   All of this is unconstitutional.  This kind of thing happens when we depart from the letter of the law for “feel-good” purposes.  (Just like when we allow America to be dragged into wars or the funding of wars through executive orders or with appropriations bills rather than a declaration by the Senate, as prescribed in the Constitution - but that discussion is for another day).   Suffice it to say that we need to go back to our Founding Documents and our Constitution and Bill of Rights if we are to survive in freedom.  I would also note that few, if any, have addressed this abuse.  Including Donald Trump.  We should be very ashamed of this.

6. The media and the government in partnership, have actively subverted our First Amendment by censoring speech on this and stifling discussion.  As always, when a wound is not properly diagnosed and treated, it festers and makes the whole body politic ill.  It has become dangerous to be an “election denier”  I can hardly recall an election in the past which did not have doubts expressed about its outcome.  We all remember the controversy over the Florida result which put George Bush in office rather than Al Gore.  We all know about Ballot Box 13, which launched the dubious career of Lyndon Johnson.  We remember that Cook County came in very late for JFK in 1960 and raised questions.  Hillary Clinton spent years challenging the 2016 election that she lost to Trump.  But suddenly and for the first time, questioning an election or calling for a recount is a new crime - “election denial”.  Now, note that I am not denying the 2020 election here.  I am restating a lot of facts which many take as strong evidence of an illegitimate outcome.  I would not argue with them.  

7. So now we are on the verge of another election.  We are being warned not to doubt the outcome.  Few, if any, reforms have been enacted since the last failure to convince us all.  In Florida, Governor DeSantis has gotten his legislature to take serious action against mail-in ballots and drop boxes, to clean up the voter rolls, etc.   In North Dakota a citizen has make Herculean efforts to get an initiated measure on the ballot, not yet successful because of an indolent public in that state.  Meanwhile, in Georgia, the site of one of the worst controversies of 2020,  legislation was enacted to require hand counting of ballots - only to be thwarted by a (most likely well-paid) judge, who overruled the law-making body.  So we are likely to see another rumble when the votes are counted this year.  

Now, having put forth at least some of the causes for dispute above, it is time to look ahead.  We will almost certainly have a repeat of last election’s strife.  Harris and Walz do not look like they are winning right now, while Trump and Vance appear to be hitting their stride and making inroads in many bastions of Democrat support - among minority groups as well as with blue-collar workers.  The kinds of crime being reported attributed to illegal migrants is fueling some of this, but the economy is a major factor.  The fumbling of FEMA in its inability to adequately deal with the storm damage and perilous conditions in North Carolina and Tennessee - especially in contrast with DeSantis’s competence in helping to restore his state - are black marks against the current administration, which until the eleventh hour was headed by Joe Biden, finally abandoned by the roadside by his own party because he was a dead weight on the ticket.  Meanwhile, the Trump supporters have not forgotten that he seemed to have won the 2020 election and they want justice and a return of the admnistration which they saw as greatly beneficial to our national security and our economy.  Trouble is a-brewing here.  

Apparently, under the radar, the Biden Administration has taken some measures quietly to put the cork in our First Amendment for good, and hopefully, Democrats think, put an end to “election deniers” - that is, if these deniers are denying that Harris won.  I’m sure it won’t affect anyone who thinks she did win.  It has just come to light that the current President has authorized using lethal force against “deniers”.  This is documented, not idle rumor  How will we, who believe we are free, respond to this?  We’d better have a plan, because signs are pointing to a huge Trump turnout this year  

If Trump is sworn in as the next president, it would seem essential to our future survival that we hash out once and for all the disastrous 2020 election.  Not because we can do anything to turn back the clock, but for the cause of truth and justice.  Maybe Biden did win.  If he did we should know that and put this to rest.  But maybe Trump came out the actual winner when the fraud elements are winnowed out.  Then we can put it to rest, knowing the truth at last.  If we don’t, this will go on and continue to fester in our political life.  It will remain a dark stain on our election integrity and people’s belief in our system - of elections and of justice.  There should be no threats of recrimination as far as those who protested either way or voiced their opinions, but there should be accountability for those who did anything to subvert an honest and fair election or to deny those people’s rights to protest and question,  because this is a crime against the people.  It cannot go unpunished.  And then we must put in place every possible guard against such incidents in the future. 

One way is to return to the normal, “old-fashioned” counting of ballots.  We should do it all on paper, it should be hand counted and the receipts should be kept for a minimum of 10 years.  There is no reason why this cannot be done just as efficiently as the computers do it.  Remember, these should be counted by precinct.  So each precinct should have a judge and a clerk and as many pollwatchers as needed - and the pollwatchers ought to stay in place until the votes are counted and the documents sealed in an envelope - with sealing wax, as we used to do in the 1970s.  How long can it take to count one precinct?  No longer than it ever did, and we always got accurate results before we went to bed on election night.  I remember that we even held parties to watch the vote come in.  You’d have to take a vacation to do that now.  It is insane to turn this important job over to “technology”.  

If we do not get a handle on this now - and have a thorough investigation of 2020 and remedy any flaws in the system, we will pay an unacceptable price - we will lose our freedom.  Already we have lost confidence in our elections.  When this sets in throughout the body politic there will be some unhappy consequences.  If we are to remain a nation of laws, and not of “men”, a nation which is able to rise to the level of self-government, we must hold our people and our system accountable and we can only do this if everything is out in the open, laid bare for public scrutiny.  No more technology - no more computers, no more Dominion or its like.  Just printed ballots, handed out to identified citizens, ON ELECTION DAY ONLY, a locked ballot box with a slot in it and paper and pencils to tally with, two people to sign and take responsibility and the evidence sealed in an envelope with careful chain of custody.  No late voting, no early voting.  

Some people - those who are ill or disabled, those who are not able to be in their home precinct to vote on election day have always been able to obtain and file absentee ballots.  There is no reason this cannot be continued, but if people insist on being able to vote whenever they like, have others vote for them (as we have seen in some nursing homes - on video) and the like, it would be better to disenfranchise these people.  If they are honest, they would likely rather lose their single vote than corrupt the whole voting system in order to accommodate them.  I recall when I was in my teens and had been working for years as a political volunteer, I felt I should be able to vote.  My dad said, “Sure, you know enough to vote responsibly, but what if every 16-year-old could vote - would they know enough to vote responsibly?  Would you want to vote badly enough to risk that?”  At 16, I said, reluctantly, “No.”  Perhaps those mature enough to see the risks involved would feel the same.  I believe, however, that if we return to a sane policy, everyone who is a free American citizen and qualified in his precinct, should be able to vote without compromising the integrity of our elections.

One thing I am certain of, if this is not addressed satisfactorily, we will lose all faith in our elections.  When we at last have a final, true tally we can go back to normal politics and stop accusing each other of fraud and “denial”.  Then we can get back to the business of saving America.

Comments:

spot on, Sally!  - JR