Well, it's almost Election time!
I suppose that some will be sighing with relief just to have the long and dismaying presidential campaign season ending. Others will be worrying about the what now? The constant news and discussion of the presidential campaigns on TV has somewhat obscured the fact that a general election involves other candidates besides the presidential candidates, and some of the other positions could arguably be as important as the presidential election. We will be peopling the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, without which the president, whoever he or she is, cannot accomplish much.
We will also be electing people to state and county and local offices, all of which are quite important. Let's never suppose that our vote doesn't count. It counts!
Strangely, we seem to be hearing in this late stage of the presidential campaign a considerable discussion about possible election rigging. I say strangely, because from my perspective as an election worker and election official for some years, my observations have been that any rigging of an election in the U.S. would be most difficult to do, and that there is no evidence that such is happening or is likely to happen. In recent years there have been very few instances of voter fraud or manipulation of the election system across our country. Again, as I have observed over a lifetime of 70 some years, I see our U.S. election system as more secure now than it was in the earlier times and the good ole days!
Election fraud, historically, has usually been a thing of local corruption, not at a national level. There were times in the past when local election officials, who back then counted the ballots in their local precinct, were found guilty of stuffing the ballot box with votes from fictitious sources. We don't count ballots in the local precincts anymore, and the officials in the County Election Commission are named from both political parties as a safeguard to the integrity of the vote. Even though recent Arkansas proponents of increased scrutiny of personal identity when voters come to the polls have not pointed out any significant occurrences of fraud, our state and other states have instituted use of photo ID cards and other stringent ID checking procedures, poll watchers, etc. So I see very little likelihood of voter fraud occurring.
Surprisingly, we also are hearing considerable talk about what is being called "media bias." One of the reasons I say "surprisingly" is that there seems to be a supposition on the part of some people that media outlets are supposed to be neutral when it comes to elections. I cannot recall a time, through the years, ever, when newspapers, magazines, radio networks, TV networks, have not identified their favorites among the candidates, and from time to time have given voice to their preferences. Through the years, newspaper editors have endorsed candidates and laid out their cases for deciding such.
Candidates, whoever they are, do have a right to be quoted accurately, to be allowed to state their positions, and not have facts or views bent or twisted out of shape. To me, however, as I watch and read the work of media reporters, I find it surprising how open most of them are to hearing advocates and ads from both sides and various viewpoints, and how they allow free expression of very diverse opinions. One point to observe is that media outlets respond to and publish "news," which means that whether the candidate is a conservative, or is a middle-of-the-road progressive like Bill Clinton, "the media" will give attention to news of potential scandals. For example, the New York Times (that great liberal media voice supposedly biased in favor of Democrats) was extremely tough on Mr. Clinton during the Whitewater investigation back there in the early 1990s. Still further, "the media" is not one all-alike block of opinion and influence. Some of the media is conservative-leaning, like Fox News or the Arkansas Democrat/Gazette, and some outlets are more liberal-leaning, like MSNBC or the Arkansas Times. The media, whether conservative or progressive, is vitally important to the operation and success of our American democracy. We should worry about living in a climate of cultivated distrust and generalized disparagement of "the media."
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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge and an award-winning columnist, is vice president of Pea Ridge Historical Society. Opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Editorial on 10/26/2016