Geese and Ganders

During Fox News comments on mail-in ballots, Tucker Carlson cited three instances of mail-in ballots returned by people which he profiled in a charming way before delivering each time, the hook — they happened to be dead. By these instances, the election is being called into question.

Among the Republican skeptics, the smell of fraud is strongest concerning mail-in ballots. This is because each registered voter was sent one whether requested or not. The Office of Registrar exists to groom and update voter information. One of their off-season duties is the monthly checking of death certificates. The process is more or less effective in eliminating deceased individuals. Still, it is possible to overlook an update and send ballots by mistake. There is nothing to prevent these ballots from being signed and returned by opportunists taking advantage of unclaimed mail.

However, it makes no sense to claim that the Democrats are the sole beneficiary of this margin of error. Since Democrats and Republicans die at the same rate, one must assume that these orphan ballots can fall into the hands of either political persuasion for its own nefarious purposes. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If in fact this does occur in a random fashion, the “fraudulent” vote may even represent a form of black-market consensus, a twisted form of shadow democracy.

Like so much in life, there will be always be impurities. In an honest system they are still present but by exception and not by rule, like allowable insect parts in packaged flour. Scattered reports of fraud do not invalidate the efforts of a mostly honest enterprise. President Trump is hardly the person to argue for perfect purity. History has shown us that every party has its cheaters. They are unlikely, though, to account for a 5-million-vote advantage.