Win or lose, we all win when we vote
The midterm elections are days away as you read this piece, and I have never been less focused on politics.
On the elections, yes - intensely focused – but the “political” element always seems to go away as we close in on the actual balloting. Now is the time to admire the elegance and grace of a system - the mechanics of the well-oiled machine that is real, honest-to-heaven American democracy in action.
It’s a system that’s undergone massive changes over its history. We’ve gone from paper ballots to electronic voting machines. But it’s not just the tech. Someone asked why the vote counts were so easy in the 1920s, and so complex in the 2000s? The reason is that the machines of the 1920s were “one-armed bandits” that would cast your entire ballot for one party’s candidates or the other’s – to select someone out of sync, you had to basically reset the machine.
The ballots of an even earlier era left no chance that anyone would not know your choices. You simply requested the ballot for your party and dropped it into the ballot can, often without bothering to look to see which candidates were on the paper slip.
We’ve come a long way, but not really. The ancient Greeks used pot sherds marked with the name of the candidate, but it was all for the same purpose: choosing those who would represent the constituency interests in government.
James Madison’s funny little scheme to break the power of a majority faction is always at work in the American system. There are at least three levels of government – national, state and local – which may be elected and of these, legislative, executive and judicial candidates are selected. A single political party may dominate a state, but never all states. A single party may dominate one sector of governing, but never all. Even when a party holds a majority in both chambers of the legislature as well as the executive, they are tripped up by the minority by the rules of procedure and sometimes by the courts.
We elect all of these people (or the people who appoint them) but never all of them at the same time. This prevents the passion of the moment resulting in a government takeover by one faction or the other. There is always something holding them in line for compromise. Landslides are for individuals – not for elections – and no one completely “loses” in this system.
“Campaigns and elections” is one of the least political courses taught in my department. Everyone seems to assume it’s full of the same babbling nonsense that compose the campaigns, but it isn’t. It’s a deep dive into the American psyche.
What is it that gets voters off the couch this year? Who drops a ballot? Why? Campaigns have never been more flush as there are literally billions tied up in this one. What are they spending it on? Following the census there are new districts all over the place, open seats and wide-open challenges to the status quo.
Elections are a celebration – of freedom, of democracy, of the essence of the heart of the Great Republic.
Back in the day, when I first got involved in this crazy business, there were a core of elderly folks – all friends - who formed ‘team central’ of the volunteer voting crews. It was a social event as much as a political event. They came from both parties and were responsible for checking you off the voting rolls as you took your ballot and instructed you on how it worked.
The first time I ever voted, this rather stern woman handed me my ballot and directed me to the little standup cubicle with my ballot sheets. As I was leaving, a little stunned by the experience, she said to me “you come back again. And every time after that, too.” And I have, nearly every time. And you should too.
R. Bruce Anderson is the Dr. Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay Jr. Endowed Chair in American History, Government, and Civics at Florida Southern College and Miller Distinguished Professor of Political Science. He is also a columnist for The Ledger and political consultant and on-air commentator for WLKF Radio in Lakeland.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Win or lose, we all win when we vote
