One Area The USA Shouldn’t Be Exceptional

As a student and teacher of United States history, I’m thrilled at how God took a “hidden continent” (The New World) three hundred years ago and created a nation/civilization never seen before in history. We call that miracle “American Exceptionalism.”

Our biblical faith, melting pot unity, political institutions, social fraternities, political freedoms, and unparalleled blessings have made the United States of America a model for other nations to follow.

But recently something has happened to our populace and civics that is very concerning.

Here’s one area of U.S. culture that shouldn’t be exceptional.

One Area The USA Shouldn’t Be Exceptional

The erosion of Judeo-Christian foundations in the United States is cause for great concern, while at the same time, a Baptism Revival has begun in our nation bringing rays of hope.

Throughout our history, one area we often took for granted was a free people determining their leaders through voting in free and fair elections. I’ve voted dozens of times in my life. When I was young, I assumed that “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” was the norm of the human story.

Then I began to study world history and realized that free elections were really a “blip” in time. For most of the 6000 years of recorded history, human beings were ruled by strongmen/tyrants–with no elections at all.  Your village or city could be here one day and annihilated the next by a stronger leader and his hordes.

Power was king, not people and their God-given rights.

W. Cleon Skousen’s enlightening book The 5000 Year Leap opened my eyes to the wonder of civic elections. When General George Washington resigned his wartime commission on December 23, 1983, and returned to private life, he did something unthinkable in the annals of time.

He laid down power so the people could rule. 

That act of humility and belief in republican principles stunned the nation and the world. No victorious warrior had ever done so before.

No wonder the American colonies unanimously chose him as their first president. Eight years later, he turned over power again through the electoral process–to John Adams, our second president. (I’ve just finished reading biographies of Washington, Adams, and John Quincy Adams.)

No wonder they called the birth of the United States of America “The Glorious Cause.” It was a revolution in thinking, morals, biblical faith, and awarding the common people the right to choose their leaders.

But in 2024, the privilege of selecting our representative leaders is in peril. Whereas America was once a great example of fair and free elections, she is quickly becoming exceptional in misusing and distrusting the electoral process.

I’ll let Dennis Prager lay out our backslidden state then share what we can do about it. 

Why Americans Mistrust Elections More Than the Citizens of Any Other Democracy

By Dennis Prager

Last week, 27 European nations voted for their representatives in the European Parliament.

If you were aware of this, did you happen to notice that there were no allegations of cheating in any European country? If you are on the Left, you might respond that there were no such allegations because the Right did better than the Left, and it’s the Right that makes these allegations.

But that response has little merit. For one thing, there were no such allegations, let alone demonstrations, during all the years left-wing parties won European parliamentary elections or national elections. For another, in America, it is not only the Right that has charged election fraud: Hillary Clinton, for example, still claims the 2016 election was stolen from her.

The fact is that, among democracies, America is essentially alone in having nearly half its population mistrust election results. So, either America is cursed with a paranoid population, or there are valid reasons for Americans to mistrust their elections’ results.

There is no question it is the latter. America is unique among democracies in having half its people mistrust election results because America is unique among democracies in the way it conducts its elections.

America is almost alone among democracies in not demanding that voters provide any identification when they vote. For some reason, the American Left vehemently opposes voter ID. It claims voter ID is racist and that those who favor it are engaged in “voter suppression.” This is prima facie absurd: Are airports racist for demanding passenger identification? Does passenger ID result in “passenger suppression”?

The most plausible reason the Left opposes voter ID is to enable some degree of voter fraud. If that is not the reason, isn’t it enormously irresponsible to cultivate doubts about election integrity among half its country’s citizens—for no valid reason? Moreover, in no other country does its Left oppose voter ID.

America is almost alone among democratic countries in not requiring paper ballots. As of 2023, only Brazil counts all its ballots in national elections through electronic voting. According to Pew Research Center, votes are cast by manually marking paper ballots in 209 of the 227 countries. In France, as reported by The Associated Press, voters “use the same system that’s been used for generations: paper ballots that are cast in person and counted by hand.” In 2009, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that voting machines could no longer be used. In 2017, the Dutch government announced that all ballots in the 2017 general election would be counted by hand.

Moreover, among those countries that use electronic voting, only in America are the source codes of the voting machines kept secret. Three companies—Dominion, Election Systems & Software, and Hart InterCivic—control about 90% of the U.S. voting technology market. Each is privately held, and each is committed to keeping its source code from becoming fully public. Wherever else in the world electronic voting is allowed, the source codes are available to all political parties.

America is almost alone among democratic countries in not confining voting to one day. All through American history, Americans voted on Election Day (unless they had previously requested an absentee ballot). The Left has obliterated Election Day; we now have Election Month.

Various American states are alone among democratic countries in mailing ballots to all their citizens—that is, even to those who never requested a ballot be sent to them.

America is almost alone among democratic countries in the length of time it takes to learn election results. In other countries, people continue to learn the results within hours. Throughout American history, Americans knew the outcome of virtually every election the night of Election Day. No longer.

All too often, tragically, there are valid reasons for Americans to mistrust election results. Add elections to the long list of institutions the Left has ruined.

This disintegration of the voting system in America has been deliberate and has taken place in our lifetime.

What can we do about it?

We must ask God’s forgiveness for trivializing commandments 8 & 9 of the Ten Commandments. We are allowing elections to be “stolen” and giving people opportunity “to bear false witness.” Solemn assemblies for repentance on this issue would soften American minds and touch the heart of God.

We must encourage all local, state, and federal governing bodies to demand photo ID and paper ballot counting, discourage mail-in ballots, and promote the celebration of election days. How about making them “holidays” with voting, parades, speeches, and prayer meetings?

Fair and free elections in the United States must become once again among the best in the world–and be renewed as a sign of repentance (change of heart) and social wisdom.