OPINION - It's Things Like This

Bad things can happen even when there's no reason to believe anyone is pulling off any shenanigans.  And so it is with the latest head-shaker on mail in voting in Cass County.  

On our morning news show today, Cass County Treasurer Mike Montplaisir told us that a local company went to pick up its mail recently and instead of getting their standard array of envelopes, they opened the box to find about 200 election ballots.  The company did the honorable thing and forwarded them to the courthouse, but 200 good folks from around the county could have very easily had their votes end up in the trash.  And no private citizen would want their ballot to be out there for someone to know, or share, or who knows even get shared online. 

I asked the Fargo postmaster, Greg Johnson, twice for comment and both times he said he would like to decline.  I guess it's his prerogative, and I have no idea if those votes were Republican or Democrat, but it is Cass County where Trump won 49-39 four years ago, although if those ballots were all from City of Fargo then maybe it goes the other way.  My point still is...mail in voting allows corruption to the process, and while it's necessary for some, it should be limited wherever possible.  The most secure way to run an election WILL ALWAYS BE to have a person go into the polling place, show their ID, fill out the ballot and put it in the hopper.  Any step further away from that process allows the chance for fraud, or in this case error.

I have no reason to believe the postal workers are raving Biden fans, or Merrill Piepkorn fans, or fans of anyone else.  These ballots might have all been Biden ballots, who knows.  I have no doubt this was an honest mistake.  But it shows you what can happen when the process is less secure.  None of us, Dem or Rep, should want more mail in voting than absolutely necessary.  Who knows how many stories like this are out there, but are never told or reported.