Who's Voting?

Ground Zero - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com

In 1946 in McMinn County, Tennessee, a group of GI’s who recently had returned from WW II took up arms against the wealthy Cantrell family which had consolidated feudal-like power by rigging elections and brutalizing citizens who defied their rule. Despite pleas to the Department of Justice to investigate election fraud and ballot tampering, no investigation or federal assistance was forthcoming. The story was dramatized in 1993 in a Hallmark Hall of Fame production.

The story has been highlighted by Second Amendment advocacy groups, but it can just as well illustrate how interference with the electoral process undermines the citizen’s most fundamental right, the right to vote and choose one’s leaders. Watching the culmination of The Battle of Athens evokes outrage, anger, disbelief, and many other unpleasant emotions, as the Cantrell organization physically steals the ballot boxes at gunpoint and shoots anyone who stands in their way. Election results never go their way without some modifications, so ballots are discarded, altered, or added as needed. It is a blatant infringement of the franchise which demands that a great wrong be made right. If this right is so cherished, one wonders why more subtle forms of tampering with the ballot box do not evoke a similar outcry.

As passengers ready to board a packed flight from New York to Los Angeles, three single non English speaking men each with one way, cash purchased tickets arrive minutes before the gate is closed. None have identification but insist on being seated since they did not understand the requirement. To be fair and not inconvenience them, the agent at the gate allows them to board.

A woman dressed in shabby attire with multiple tattoos on her face and neck enters an elegant jewelry store in San Francisco. A few minutes later she decides to buy a $40,000 pair of diamond earrings. She gives the clerk a credit card but has no identification card. “Will that be all, Miss?” the manager asks as he swipes the card and hands her the merchandise.

A man whose appearance suggests Southeast Asian extraction presents to vote at a busy intercity precinct. He tells a distracted clerk his name is Sven Olafson but denies having any personal identification with him. The clerk peruses the list of registered voters and finds Mr. Olafson's name. “The booth to your left is available, Mr. Olafson.”

It is difficult to say which of the three examples is the most preposterous. The only certainty is that the first two should never happen due to the laws of transportation, commerce, and common sense, but the last, well, it is ubiquitous since there are no laws at the polls to prove that Mr. Vang really isn’t Mr. Olafson.