Trusting Our Elections: Facts vs. Fears

Election fraud: it's a phrase that's been tossed around a lot lately, but is it really something to worry about? Let's take a closer look. The Heritage Foundation, a group that supports former President Trump, has been saying that election fraud is common. They've counted 1, 561 cases over 36 years. That sounds like a big number, but let's break it down. With nearly 20, 000 cities and towns in the U. S. , that's only about 43 cases a year out of almost 20, 000 elections. So, we're talking about a tiny fraction, less than 0. 0022%, of all elections. Now, you might be thinking, "Sure, but isn't that still a problem? " Well, the "fraud" they're talking about isn't just about stolen elections. It's about things like helping someone fill out an absentee ballot without permission. While that's wrong and should be punished, it doesn't mean the election was stolen. In fact, only a tiny fraction of these cases, maybe 5%, actually changed the outcome of an election. That's about 2 elections a year out of 20, 000. That's 0. 0001%! But some people are still scared. They're worried about fraud that hasn't even been detected. This fear is making people do some crazy things, like trying to stop election results or making it harder for people to vote. These attempts aren't successful because our system has safeguards. Judges, regardless of their political views, uphold the law. So, why all the fear? When it comes to election fraud, it's not the fraud we should be scared of, but the fear itself. Our system is strong, and our democracy is deep. Let's trust the process and each other.