This commentary is by state Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney.
Facts do matter. Whether it’s the latest baseless contention that President Biden wants to ban meat or the ongoing unfounded contentions of election fraud, facts do matter.
The worst part about this ongoing wave of disinformation is the connection of disinformation to fomenting bad policy and even violence (as witnessed with the Jan. 6 storming and invasion of the nation’s Capitol).
Thankfully, Vermont voters — and a majority of U.S. voters — proved in the last election that we don’t buy fact-less attempts to deceive. That’s why it’s “curiouser and curiouser” as to why attempts continue to spread fact-less opinions.
Across the nation, at least 60 cases have been brought to court alleging voter fraud in the last election and 60 have been dismissed for lack of facts. Free speech laws do allow anyone to say pretty much anything in the court of public opinion. In a court of law, however, you can’t say anything without evidence to back it up.
Take the case of Sidney Powell. The former president’s lawyer is finding that out, as she is being sued for defamation by voting machine manufacturer Dominion. Having to face the lack of facts in her public statements about Dominion’s products, she’s now changing her tune. Her legal case now is offering this statement ; “No reasonable person would conclude that my statements were truly statements of fact.”
Quite a turnaround from what she said post-election, not to mention what it says to the people who believed her.
In another case, even a judge appointed by the former president, U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew Brann of Pennsylvania, ruled that the campaign’s charges of voter fraud there were “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations” that were “unsupported by evidence.” Judge Brann went on, “In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state. Our people, laws and institutions demand more.”
Still, these unsupported claims are leading to expansion of a great threat to our democratic republic — voter suppression, most especially Americans who are Black, Indigeneous or people of color. In 43 states, laws have been proposed that would limit access to voting under the guise of making elections more secure.
Georgia, after electing both President Biden and two Democratic senators, has been among the most egregious in enacting voter suppression laws especially to have effect in urban areas, predominantly populated by African-Americans. They’ve gone so far as to make illegal the act of giving water or food to voters who have been standing in line for hours.
While the Bible quotes the Apostle James (2:15) as saying,.”I was thirsty and you gave me to drink,” that Scripture is a no-no in Georgia, if you’re been standing for hours in a voting line.
As misguided as these attempts at voter suppression are, does anyone really think this will do anything but further inspire BIPOC Americans to get out and vote?
And right here in Vermont, as opinions continue to be offered suggesting voter fraud and subsequent elections lacking in security — without evidence — it suggests the lesson of the last election, that facts matter, is being lost on some.
Mindful of the real threat to elections that voter suppression brings, in Vermont we are working to continue expanding voter access. We will continue vote-by-mail to build on the success of actions we started for last November’s election. An election that, despite a pandemic, resulted in record turnout .
We’re also working on actions that include giving voters the ability to “cure” a ballot that’s been mailed in. This would allow a voter who thinks they didn’t fill their ballot out according to the specs of the law, or wants to change their vote, to do so before the election.
And, in Brattleboro, after the town passed an amendment to the town charter to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in town elections, the Vermont House passed this charter change, and it now awaits action in the Senate. The sentiment here is that letting voters start early creates lifelong voters, the lifeblood of a healthy democracy.
So as other states are moving to suppress the vote, Vermont continues to lead in increasing access to the voting booth, and push back on disinformation attempts because, especially in regard to elections and voting, facts do matter.
