Radio CG 3: You’ve Got to Vote, But How?
Voting. It’s kind of a big deal. For democracy to work, you’ve got to vote.
But like everything else in 2020, voting is facing some unique challenges. Is it safe to go out and cast your ballot while “The Rona” rages? Is the country equipped to deal with 140 million+ absentee and mail-in ballots? We haven’t even touched on the issues with the USPS.
We figured this episode would get a little heated. Everyone has been a little heated lately – you can’t turn your head without hearing someone yelling about something. But to our great surprise (and pleasure), everyone who called in had thoughtful opinions and wanted to contribute to a real solution rather than point fingers.
Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, that’s why Common Ground started: We wanted to find answers, not just bark at each other.
Dean and Pat kicked off the show in a big way: Why not turn to technology to fix things? Surely we have the tech and the know-how to make online voting a thing.
There’s a general consensus that we can’t fully depend on a mail-in vote, even during this time of COVID – and let’s face it, this is only becoming an issue because COVID has potentially made it dangerous to line up together. Mail-in ballots are often tossed because their signature doesn’t match what’s on file, or there’s no signature at all. And there’s no way to inform the voter in question that no, your vote didn’t count.
Callers suggested the tech already existed, but also brought up the existing problems the system faces. There was a lot of general agreement that we can come up with an effective system if we put our heads together, but callers also acknowledged that voters are worried about hackers. There’s also a large group of Americans who still don’t have access to or can’t afford the type of equipment they’d need to vote online. Any sort of solution would need to make some provisions for them.
Overall, it was a pretty awesome conversation, one we hope to revisit soon. Have a listen and tell us what you think!
