Jennifer Rubin asks,
USA Today blasts Big Labor’s Employee Free Choice Act. Shouldn’t every candidate be asked why their election warrants a secret ballot but a vote to unionize a workplace doesn’t?
C’mon, Jen. What makes you think that liberal politicians believe that “their election warrants a secret ballot”? For years, liberals have been working to expand mail-in balloting, which is not secret in any meaningful sense. Someone who bribes or browbeats voters can check their ballots before mailing to make sure that they are being cast the right way. He can even take them to the post office himself. That’s exactly the assurance that political bosses have always wanted – and find hard to obtain when voting is done in the privacy of a booth.
Here in Cook County, one of the epicenters of liberalism, the inroads on ballot secrecy go further. In fact, the secret ballot has been completely abolished. In this enlightened city, the ballot is an oversized sheet with the candidates’ names in large, readable type. After it has been marked, it must be inserted face up into a device that checks for under- and overvoting. A cover sheet is available to block third party scrutiny, but its use is optional. Naturally, the recipient of a bribe or a threat, seeing a Democratic Party operative looking his way, won’t be so foolish as to hide his vote.
Many conservatives are worried this year about spurious votes. They’re right to worry. Cleaning up the election process and limiting opportunities for dishonest shenanigans is important. But, just as with union organizing elections, once the secret ballot is taken away, democracy becomes a farce, whether or not it is also vitiated by fraud.
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