When you believe in things that you don’t understand
Then you suffer
Superstition ain’t the way
This divinely inspired lyric is, perhaps, Stevie Wonder’s most profound in terms of its essence and declaration. The life-changing, liberating wisdom Stevie imparts smacks you in the face. However, the musical genius, himself, embodies a spiritual and physical truth that eludes many rhythm-loving listeners; sight is not a requirement for obtaining truth.
I’m not sure who Stevie had in mind, or what circumstance he was referencing when he wrote Superstition. In many ways, the words are prophetic, especially when it comes to today’s voters and our trust in the system by which we elect leaders.
Since the 2016 election we have read or heard many reports and conversations about Russians hacking into the servers of political parties and candidates, and trolling efforts on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. We’ve also heard about the many attempted and, in several cases, successful voter ID laws that were implemented to suppress minority voters, particularly African Americans.
There is no denying that these efforts pose very real and urgent threats. However, there is a third player in the mix, whose mission is more catastrophic and poses an even more sinister threat to our November 6, 2020 election, because it seeks to undermine the integrity of the election itself.
As the 2020 General Election looms closer, millions of voters will approach it unaware of the known vulnerabilities in our election system process and the voting machines used to cast ballots and tabulate votes. For sure, millions more are oblivious to the shady backroom dealing between voting machine vendors and many federal and state election officials.
The worst part of this revelation is, many of our leaders are equally unaware of these democracy busting risks, while others, out of ignorance, dismiss it as mere techno boogeyman talk.
The vulnerabilities and potential weakness in our voting machines is critical because the entire system of our democracy depends on public trust. No matter how divided we are as a country when it comes to policy and governance, no matter how passionate and fiercely contested our elections play out, all voters want results that have integrity. The idea that the tally of votes itself could be unreliable and exposed to fraud, not only undermines but corrodes the principles of this republic.
Stay tuned to the Westside Gazette as I uncover the many unknown realities about our election system process and these voting machines. We want to educate voters and leaders at every level of government, offer solutions that will assist in protecting your vote and giving each of us some assurance that our votes were counted, and most of all, empower you to action.