Election Day vs. Election Season

Column #398 April 14, 2023

From my own experience, and from what I hear from others, Americans know very little about the history of our country’s national elections. Many assume that the 2020 election was the most corrupt in our nation’s history. But some historians say, “Not so fast.” The title of most corrupt goes to the Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden “Stolen Election of 1876.”¹

Many people want an Election Day rather than an Election Season. Yet in 1792, the 2nd Congress decided presidential electors would vote on the first Wednesday in December, and electors must be chosen in the 34 days leading up to that date. More than half of the states in the early 1800s held elections for presidential electors in early November but not all on the same date or even the same month!²

Under the new Constitution ratified that same year, the 1788–1789 United States presidential election was held from Monday, December 15, 1788, to Saturday, January 10, 1789. The 1792 presidential election was held from Friday, November 2, to Wednesday, December 5, 1792. The first contested American presidential election in 1796 was held from Friday, November 4 to Wednesday, December 7, 1796. Yes, there was no single date set except other than voting was to take place after the fall harvest.^{3 4 5}

On January 6, 1838, Samuel Morse sent his first public demonstration message over two miles of wire at Speedwell Ironworks in New Jersey. On March 3, 1843, the United States Congress appropriated funds for Samuel Morse to lay a telegraph line from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. Knowing that the telegraph would soon be spreading “news” with the speed of light, in 1845 the 28th Congress set a single date for states to appoint presidential electors. The objective was “to guard against frauds in the elections of President and Vice President.” The deadline Congress set for states to appoint presidential electors was “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.” The first unified presidential Election Day was November 7, 1848.⁶

Generally speaking, each state is responsible for conducting its own electoral systems, including elections for federal office. In other words, it’s up to the citizens of each state to make sure its representatives are responsible and that they adopt policies that protect their elections against fraud, including efforts by noncitizens to vote, and by citizens registered in multiple states. The dates polls are open, mail-in voting, and absentee voting are also up to the states.

Voter fraud is as old as the country itself. Flagrant examples of voter fraud have been documented by respected historians and journalists in hundreds, if not in the thousands, of attempts to manipulate election results since the beginning of the 19th century. Over the decades fraudsters have only become more creative in fixing the outcome of elections.

There are many different types of election fraud that can change the outcome of an election. They include:
●   Impersonation at the polls.
●   False voter registrations.
●   Duplicate voting.
●   Fraudulent use of absentee ballots including harvesting.
●   Buying votes.
●   Illegal “assistance” at the polls.
●   Ineligible voting.
●   Altering the vote count.
●   Ballot petition fraud.⁷

Since national elections involve more than 150 million votes, can voter fraud affect election outcomes? The National Commission on Federal Election Reform has reported that the problem is not the magnitude of voter fraud, but that just a small amount of fraud in certain jurisdictions can change the margin of difference impacting the outcome. Of course in this age of digital social media and television, the uneducated mob is far more susceptible to manipulation than ever before. And in this age of cancel culture, many people live in a totally mythical world.⁸

The Heritage Foundation has voting recommendations it believes states should adopt, “including requiring government-issued identification and proof of citizenship to vote. States should enter into interstate voter registration cross-check programs to identify voters registered in multiple states. They should verify the accuracy of their voter registrations, by comparing voter rolls with jury forms, DMV files, and other government records to identify noncitizens so that they can be removed from voter rolls. The federal government should cooperate with state efforts to clean up their registrations, and make Department of Homeland Security and other databases available to state officials for this purpose.”⁷

In recent years, some states have become more aware of the need to secure American elections. There are now 34 states that require voters to show some form of identification at the polls, although not all require photo identification or proof of citizenship. A small number of states have extended that identification to absentee ballots, a requirement that all states should implement.

On the other hand, some states have been going in the wrong direction. Some are lowering the voting age, letting noncitizens vote, mailing out unsolicited ballots to all registered voters, leaving unqualified voters on the voting lists, extending the time for accepting votes to be counted after the polls are closed, not verifying voter identifications, and opening up the time for voting to weeks ahead of election day making it more difficult for there to be poll watchers available to monitor against election fraud.

Nearly all citizens have a right to vote. Unfortunately, in our country too many voters do not understand the historical and future consequences of their voting options. This problem is exacerbated by lowering the voting age. Social media influencers and the MSM take advantage of voter ignorance in order to influence outcomes. For many citizens, voting is more of a popularity contest than a selection of a candidate best suited for achieving regional and national goals.

If you are concerned about your state’s voting laws, it’s up to you to be vocal about it. Decades ago it didn’t seem to make much difference which party was in power because politicians compromised on so many issues. The result was that governments kept getting bigger decade after decade, but it was incremental. These days, where the woke crowd seems to get its way more often than not, if sane people don’t start standing their ground it won’t be long before they won’t own anything and they’ll be happy or else. For certain, since the radical left loves to play the election-season game, moderate democrats, independents, and conservatives had better ditch the idea that elections are held on election day—in person and with paper ballots.

Another matter is getting the right kind of people elected. There are a lot of wolves in sheep clothing that want power and they’ll do anything to get it which includes lying to your face. It’s amazing how so many politicians are corrupt beyond redemption. Unfortunately, this means our greatest enemy is amongst us and paying attention to politics is no longer optional. Additionally, with the mob constantly being bombarded by propaganda generated by elitists and the MSM, when it comes to electing the president, there’s probably never been a time when the Electoral College method of voting was more important.^{9 10 11 12}

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

1. Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876

2. Six Incredible Facts about the History of Election Day

3. The 1788–89 United States Presidential Election from Wikipedia

4. The 1792 United States Presidential Election from Wikipedia

5. The 1796 United States Presidential Election from Wikipedia

6. Timeline of North American Telegraphy from Wikipedia

7. Voter Fraud from The Heritage Foundatoin

8. Four Times the Results of a Presidential Election Were Contested by Robert Speel from Smithsonian Magazine

9. Election Day: Frequently Asked Questions by Ben Leubsdorf from Congressional Research Service

10. Election Day vs. 'Election Season': Should the GOP Continue to Fight the Democrats' Game or Play It as Well? by Mike Miller from Red State

11. The Electoral College is under attack