Universal Voting: A Solution To Dems Winning Again

Over the many months leading up to the General Election this past Nov. 6, the anxious, excited and hyped 24/7 cable news and print coverage was all about who would turnout to vote.

President Barack Obama rallies 

students in 2012 at The Ohio State

University.

Coverage ran the gamut from Democrats fretting about whether their base constituencies—Millennials, African Americans, Hispanics, students and seniors—would show up at the polls to Republicans who tried yet again to suppress or depress those same constituencies by simultaneously ginning up anger in President Donald Trump's base over "caravans" of unarmed, mostly women and children immigrants walking through central America to the nation's southern border.

The famous "forgotten man" that Republicans relied upon to pull off the national magic trick in 2016 that turned New York billionaire and reality TV host Donald Donald into the occupier of the White House, again came to rescue some GOP candidates in several key races. But not all of them, as Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown showed when he won his third term in the U.S. Senate in a state that glows ruby red.

Headlines across all media were bloated with various versions of turnout possibilities: From NPR, "Millennials Now Rival Boomers As A Political Force, But Will They Actually Vote?" or from Pew Research Center, "Younger generations make up a majority of the electorate, but may not be a majority of voters this November." On African-Americans, The Guardian asked, "Will Alabama's black voters turn out in this year's midterms? or from The Washington Post, "Groups work to energize black voters in key midterm contests." For seniors, Money USA revealed "Why Older Citizens are More Likely to Vote" while the ACLU declared, "Let The People Vote: How Can We Increase Voter Participation."

Now that the 2018 mid-term elections are over, voter turnout was higher than in previous cycles, but still far below the number of people who are over 18 and eligible to vote, who have not registered to vote or didn't vote if they are indeed registered.

With a polarized and divided nation operating in a broken and very much "rigged" system, as Trump claimed America's system was when running his first campaign for public office just two years ago, any hope that voter turnout will skyrocket to higher levels is a fantasy.

Democrats argue that the more people that vote, the more issues central to their everyday lives, like healthcare, workers' wages and retirement benefits, among others, will benefit Democratic candidates. Trump Republicans and all those former establishment GOPers who are wondering in the wilderness between who they were and who they are now in the era of Trump, know that their core value agenda—tax breaks for the wealthy, valuing corporations over people, distrusting government and limiting healthcare because they believe it's a privilege and not a human right—conflicts with the overwhelming plurality of Americans who are not millionaires, who wonder about their jobs and wages, who want a good education for their children and who desperately want a solid retirement system they can depend on.

One solution in plain view, that would solve the trick of voter turnout that Democrats and others fail to see but need to see, is universal voting. Instead of wondering ad nauseam about who will turnout to vote on Election Day, what if the starting point for voter turnout is 100 percent?

The headlines above would suddenly be obsolete, as everyone 18 and older votes as part of their new civic duty as participating citizens. Carrots and sticks would apply. One carrot to voting would include a federal or state tax credit. Examples of civic penalties could include limits on eligibility for credit or home mortgages, or other privileges taken for granted now that could become troublesome if they failed to vote. Sounds harsh, but the simple act of voting would avoid the heartache of not voting.

Australia and Argentina use universal voting. Australia, a strong

"Populism" breaks out in Washington D.C

democracy by any measure, embraces everyone voting with a voting holiday and celebrations.

The State of Oregon shows the way forward with universal mail-in ballot voting. Every registered voter receives a paper ballot, that is filled out and sent back at the voters's convenience. Allowing everyone, no matter their economic or physical circumstance, a chance to exercise their voice and their choice should be the goal of American democracy.

Reasons not to vote, like bad weather or transportation to polling locations or not having time from work to vote, would instantly disappear. Unlike with voting machines, antiquated as they are in many states, paper ballots can't be hacked and represent the ultimate paper trail.

Instead of future elections costing billions to keep voters from voting, what if money in politics was relegated to educating voters on the issues at stake because everyone will vote? Bi-partisan Boards of Elections would be obsolete since they represent the last vestige of a dilapidated system based on two-party rule and control over voting laws and regulations. Seriously, what sporting event has judges or referees that represent the interests of the contestants? Who would vote to have referees at the upcoming Ohio State versus Michigan game wearing one team's colors? No one. Such a proposition would be absurd on its face, but that's exactly the standard America has grown its system of elections on.

Is it any wonder, then, that election battles over who is eligible vote, how they voted, and how votes are counted produces the election confusion and anger that's now standard practice?

The White House in Washington D.C.

Here in my home state of Ohio, Democrats lost all statewide seats again this year, as they've done for virtually all of the last 30 years, except for the anomaly elections in 2006, when Democrats won four of five constitutional offices, only to lose them again in 2010 after The Great Recession crippled the state, giving Republicans like John Kasich an open door to blame Gov. Ted Strickland for a national economic mess that could have further devolved into a second Great Recession.

If Democrats want to win in Ohio again, or in so many other states that glow red, leaders need to start rattling the cage for universal voting as the simplest, most effective way for eligible citizens to register the electoral preferences.

Otherwise, Democrats and third-tier parties will continue their losing ways as Republicans continue to control legislative mapping panels that will put their candidates in Congress even though Democrats win more votes.