I remember few details about any of the 5 decades of voting that I’ve done.  In most cases, the voting took place at a school in the district.  There’s always a basketball court or gym available for the actual voting apparatus, and plenty of parking for the voters.  Outside the school you would see a handful of people carrying placards for the various candidates, all behaving properly, at a respectable distance from the entry, and with little conversation between the voters and the party representatives.

But, that was then, and this is now.

Sadly, I don’t expect November 3, 2020 to be anything like that at all.  For several years, we have had to deal with large, violent, or semi-violent protest groups from both sides of the political spectrum, all committed to intimidating people enough that they cannot comfortably exercise their First Amendment right to speak to a group, or for the group to feel safe when listening uninterrupted to the speaker.  Voting is another very important First Amendment right because it allows “We The People…” to select our leaders, from the President of the United States down to an elected meter-maid or school crossing guard.  Any disruptive actions that can nullify even a single vote must be prevented. There are several actions that can be taken to assure that our election process be carried out in a safe, orderly manner and accurate manner.