Protecting Elections From Cheaters Isn't Racist

Christian Post ^ | August 10, 2016 | Ken Blackwell 

Again state legislatures have approved new rules to prevent election fraud. Again federal courts have struck the laws down. Much of America's political and legal establishment is resolutely opposed to election integrity. It makes you wonder what they believe democracy is all about.
Obviously, there is no excuse for racial discrimination. But protecting elections against cheating has nothing to do with race. Democracy doesn't work unless the votes are counted accurately.
There has been election fraud as long as there have been elections. Great Britain was the fount of parliaments around the world, but it was infamous for such abuses as "rotten boroughs." It took centuries to clean up the process, and even today many parliamentary districts are unfairly drawn.
The U.S. long suffered through manifold abuses of ethnic and urban "machines." Party bosses ruled in Chicago, New York City, other big cities, and even some rural areas.
They continued to manipulate elections into the 20th century. Lyndon Johnson was known as "Landslide Lyndon" because of his narrow victory in a fraud-tainted Senate primary. The Illinois cemeteries voted in 1960, propelling John F. Kennedy into the White House. While Republicans were not blameless, Democratic organizations were far more effective at subverting democracy.
Still, one would expect America to have put such problems behind us by the 21st century. After all, Washington officials circle the globe promoting democracy. They act as if they believe in the process. You would think they would guarantee honest elections at home.
However, the credibility of U.S. diplomats is our least important concern. All Americans have an interest in the integrity of the system that selects those who make and enforce our laws.