Morning Glory: Vote. Vote. vote

States that allow “same-day registration and voting” include the “swing states” of Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. You may have never voted in your life, but in these states and many others you can start today. You can register and vote today if you are a United States citizen.

Other states that are “close” to “swing state” status and allow “same-day registration and voting” include New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia. In Helene-ravaged North Carolina, even a voter with no prior registration or voting history is allowed to show up today, show ID, register and then vote.

“Proof of residency is a key requirement in all states that offer same-day registration,” said the National Conference of State Legislatures, a half-century nonpartisan organization that serves state legislatures. The group's website is a good resource for journalists looking to learn about the rules in our patchwork system of electoral laws.

It is good that we have a decentralized system, but it is not good that there is a suspicion that fraud is possible in voting. It has always been the case that fraud exists, and I wrote a book 20 years ago about the facts of voter fraud because the history of voter fraud in the United States is rich, interesting – and shameful: “If it's not close, can they.” t Cheat.” To my surprise, it became a New York Times bestseller after the Hanging Chad election in 2000.

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Fraud in American elections in the 19th and early 20th centuries was primarily due to the need for metropolitan machines to retain the power to distribute patronage. Jobs with machines like Tammany Hall in New York City, the Pendergast Machine in Kansas City, Missouri, and the legendary Daley Machine in Chicago were not an option for the families who depended on the jobs that provided for their families unless , they were part of the machine. and the old machines could possibly even be seen as guarantees of a social safety net.

Some election controversies, like the Florida debacle in 2000, resulted from a combination of outdated technology that was overwhelmed or poorly designed—the butterfly ballot—and ideologically biased courts like the then-Florida Supreme Court. When the United States Supreme Court decided Bush v. Gore, the first and most important part of that decision concerned the need for “due process,” and it was a 7-2 decision in which two liberals joined five conservatives in favoring to stop the procedural circus and reverse the Florida Supreme Court's then-ruthless and lawless majority of four out of seven justices.

8 STATES WILL VOTE ON MEASURES THAT WOULD EXPRESSLY BAN NON-CITIZENS FROM VOTING

Our highest national court has blocked Florida's highest court from disregarding longstanding principles of due process when counting votes. Five U.S. Supreme Court justices also called for the recount to be halted because of concerns about the election calendar and its deadlines in federal law. Almost all nonpartisan assessments of the 2000 vote in Florida agree that President George W. Bush won that state and the 2000 election. The practice of “election denial” began after that election and has been a blight on our system ever since. Courts will eventually resolve controversial cases involving voting. The constitution is very strong. Trust the Constitution.

However, don't trust the old media or the polls. The latter need to fix the elections before we can generally believe in them, and the former simply have no interest in faithfully representing half of American opinion, and often not even the facts. Did you see the story that election officials in Bucks County, Pennsylvania were reprimanded by a court there for sending voters home in line last week? It happened. This cycle, the Republican National Committee will not “play catch-up,” but rather watch for election controversies early. In Bucks County, the GOP sued for election malpractice – and won! Have you seen this anywhere?

Finally, never forget that the old media plunged us into this vicious cycle of distrust by falsely calling Florida for Gore in 2000, before the vote was even complete with the Panhandle. How many voters left when they heard this or stayed home in the West is a “known unknown.” I believe – opinion alert – that Bush's victory would have been overwhelming had it not been for the electrifying jolt of energy to the Democrats and the crushing blow to the hopes of the Republicans on early election night from the national “news” networks.

What is not an opinion was that the “newsroom” at KCET-TV, the then-PBS affiliate in Los Angeles where I co-anchored election night coverage in 2000, erupted in cheers when this completely false “decision call” was made. took place. of Florida was announced. I was shocked then and still am. The old media pretended to be fair back then, but now it's an arm of the Democratic National Committee and much of the posturing is gone. Don't believe anyone tonight until a consensus is formed. Everyone makes mistakes, but facts are indeed stubborn things and eventually they will disappear.

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My vote for Donald Trump and Senator Vance was cast weeks ago in Virginia because the main story on Thursday may not be our new president-elect, but another attack by Iran on Israel and what Israel can rightly expect in response: a “third strike and you are out” – massive punishment of the Iranian nuclear program and the vanguard troops – the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Because our national security and that of our allies depends so heavily on the leadership of our President and the strength of his national security team, please vote, even if you have never voted before, as long as your state allows same-day registration and voting. Then watch and wait. We'll all find out soon enough.

Hugh Hewitt is host of The Hugh Hewitt Show, heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET on the Salem Radio Network and simulcast on the Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide and on all streaming platforms where SNC is seen. He is a frequent guest on Fox News Channel's News Roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6 p.m. ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a law professor at Chapman University's Fowler School of Law since 1996, where he teaches constitutional law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show in Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has appeared frequently on all major national news television networks, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for all major American newspapers, has authored a dozen books, and moderated a number of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015–16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and column on the Constitution, national security, American politics, and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests over his 40 years in broadcasting, from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, and this column previews the main story that informs his radio presence today. /TV show will determine.

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