Photo credit: ABC News
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
Now that the election is over, it is a good time to look at the integrity of the results.
Over the last two years, Democratic majorities in the General Assembly eased voter ID requirements, established the longest early election period in the country, and instituted “no excuse” absentee voting.
Republicans were alarmed. Donald Trump declared, “I am not a believer in the integrity of Virginia’s elections, lots of bad things went on, and are going on.” State Senator Amanda Chase charged, “I know how Democrats are cheating, and that info has been given to the Youngkin campaign.” Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin, as late as a month before the election, called for an audit of voting machines.
As we all know, the Republicans won. What was the reaction of Democrats? With two exception of two close House districts, the Democrats conceded on election night. (When all the votes had come in, the Democrat in one of those close elections conceded defeat. The other one is headed for a recount.) Governor Northam invited the Republican winner to the Executive Mansion for lunch and pledged his support in the transition.
That is the way it should be. That is the way it has been until recently.
And what about those concerns about “election integrity”? Donald Trump seems satisfied with how the election went. Sen. Chase has not come forth with how the Democrats were cheating. And there has been no call from Youngkin now for an audit of the election machines.
So far, the only election irregularity that has been reported is that of the underaged (17) son of the Republican gubernatorial candidate trying to vote, in the wrong precinct, even. Turned away because he was not old enough to vote, he came back a second time, only to be turned away again. The governor-elect needs to give his son a civics lesson. One would think that the private school in Fairfax that the kids attends would have taught its students the basics of elections, such as minimum wage, registration requirements, etc.
Perhaps, as one observer put it while commenting on the starkly different reactions of the losers in Virginia and New Jersey, for many Republicans, there are two possible electoral outcomes:
- The Republican won
- The Democrat cheated.
