THE WASHINGTON UNION PAPERS: NO. 31

HOW WE RESTORE PUBLIC TRUST IN THE VOTING SYSTEM

To the People of the United States,

A republic stands or falls on the legitimacy of its elections. It is not wealth, military power, or cultural influence that sustains a democracy—it is the trust of its people in the simple, sacred act of voting. When that trust is broken, what remains is not a republic, but a husk of one, an empire clinging to the illusion of representation while its foundations rot from within. A nation cannot call itself free if its people do not believe their votes matter, if they step into the ballot box not as citizens shaping their future, but as bystanders watching a performance designed to convince them they still have a choice.

This is not a theoretical crisis. It is a reality, and it is unfolding in real-time. American elections, once the gold standard of democratic legitimacy, are now viewed with suspicion, not because the people have grown cynical without cause, but because those in power have made them that way. The fault does not lie with the voters—it lies with a system that has treated their faith in democracy as an expendable commodity, trading legitimacy for convenience, security for expediency, integrity for control. It lies with a political establishment that has spent decades tightening its grip on power, ensuring that elections are managed, not won, and that outcomes are predicted, not decided by the will of the people.

This crisis is not an accident. It is the byproduct of a system that has abandoned its duty to serve the people and has instead sought to control them. The great lie of modern American elections is that they remain free and fair by virtue of tradition alone, as if the passage of time insulates a nation from corruption. But history shows us otherwise. Democracies do not die in a single moment; they erode, slowly, deliberately, under the weight of manipulation, deception, and institutional decay. The Roman Republic did not collapse overnight—it fell as power was consolidated into the hands of the few, as elections became mere formalities, as the voice of the citizen was drowned out by the ambitions of the elite. The warning signs are no different today.

James Madison, the architect of the Constitution, once wrote that "the essence of government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse." That abuse is now written into the American electoral system itself. It is found in the gerrymandered districts that strip voters of real representation. It is found in the labyrinth of voting laws designed not to encourage participation, but to control it, to suppress it, to ensure that those in power remain in power. It is found in the billions of dollars that flood elections, turning campaigns into auctions where policies are not debated but sold to the highest bidder. And it is found in the media-driven spectacle that transforms voting into a game of fear and division, ensuring that the people remain locked in combat with one another rather than uniting to demand a system that actually serves them.

Without faith in the ballot box, there is no democracy—only the illusion of one. And illusions do not last. The American people are awakening to the fraud that has been perpetrated upon them, to the reality that their votes have been treated as bargaining chips rather than instruments of power. They are seeing through the façade, recognizing that a system that forces them to choose between two pre-selected candidates, that buries third-party voices, that manufactures outrage to keep them distracted, is not a system built for them. It is a system built against them.

Trust in the American electoral system is at an all-time low, and that distrust is not the problem—it is the symptom. The real disease is the corruption that has been allowed to fester at the heart of democracy, the slow but deliberate effort to transform voting from a right into a privilege, from an act of empowerment into an act of submission. And unless that corruption is confronted, unless the people reclaim the integrity of their elections, this republic will go the way of all others that have fallen—not through foreign conquest, but through the rot of its own institutions.

If a nation wishes to remain free, it must first ensure that its elections are not merely rituals of democracy, but its foundation. The people must not be spectators in their own governance—they must be the force that determines it. And if that force is diminished, manipulated, or controlled, then what remains is not a republic, but a fraud. The time to restore faith in our elections is not tomorrow, not in the next cycle, not in the distant hope of reform—it is now. Because a democracy that cannot ensure the legitimacy of its own elections is not a democracy at all.

For too long, both parties have played a cynical game, questioning election results when it suits them and dismissing concerns when it does not. They have drawn district lines to ensure their own survival, suppressed votes in communities that threaten their power, and drowned elections in corporate money that drowns out the voice of the people. They have turned the sacred act of voting into a spectacle of distrust, a process so tangled in bureaucracy, inefficiency, and deception that many Americans have lost faith entirely. But this faith must be restored. Not through empty rhetoric or partisan grandstanding, but through real, structural reform that places the power of elections back where it belongs: in the hands of the people. The survival of this republic depends on it. Without trust in elections, democracy is nothing but a puppet show, a performance where the people are led to believe they have power while the true decisions are made behind closed doors. This is not speculation—it is history repeating itself. And unless the people demand something different, the outcome will be no different than the failed republics of the past.

James Madison warned that "a popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps both." We are living that farce now, but the tragedy is yet to come. We have been led to believe that elections are free and fair simply because they exist, that the act of casting a vote is itself a guarantee of representation. But history teaches us that elections alone do not make a democracy—only the integrity of those elections does. Rome held elections until the very end, long after the republic had become an empire in all but name. The Soviet Union had elections—rubber-stamped, predetermined, but elections nonetheless. Even dictatorships hold elections as a means of controlling, rather than empowering, the people. The mere existence of a vote does not mean the people have a voice.

Real democracy demands more than the illusion of participation. It demands a system in which the people control the process, where elections are not stage-managed by entrenched political parties, where the counting of ballots is beyond reproach, and where access to the vote is a right, not an obstacle course. Thomas Jefferson wrote that "the whole art of government consists in the art of being honest." But where is the honesty in a system where elections are gerrymandered, where money buys influence, where third-party candidates are erased before the first ballot is cast? Where is the honesty in a government that tells its people they are free while ensuring that their choices are pre-selected for them?

The restoration of faith in elections will not come from politicians who have built their power on the brokenness of the system. It will not come from commissions that investigate themselves, from media outlets owned by corporate interests, or from empty assurances that "everything is fine." It will come only from radical transparency and uncompromising accountability. It will come from independent election audits conducted with the same rigor we demand in financial markets. It will come from abolishing the gerrymander, from ending the closed-door deals that shape election outcomes before the people ever have a say. It will come from removing money as the gatekeeper to political viability, ensuring that ideas—not wealth—determine who holds office.

Alexander Hamilton, a man who understood the fragility of republican government, once said, "A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government." That sacred respect must extend to the way elections are conducted. For too long, Americans have been told to simply trust a system that gives them no reason to do so. That trust must be earned—not through words, not through promises, but through action. If elections are the bedrock of democracy, then it is time to repair the foundation, because the cracks are growing. The people must reclaim what is theirs. And if those in power refuse to return it, then they must be removed—not by force, not by insurrection, but by the sheer, unstoppable will of a citizenry that has finally awakened to its own strength.

A nation that does not control its own elections does not control its own destiny. The path forward is not passive acceptance. It is not waiting for the system to correct itself. It is demanding that the system be torn down and rebuilt—not to serve the parties, not to serve the donors, not to serve the institutions, but to serve the people. Anything less is a betrayal of the very idea of democracy.

The first step in restoring trust in the vote is to break the monopoly that the two-party system has on the electoral process. The American people do not believe in their elections because they do not believe they have a real choice. And they are right. The system has been designed to suppress competition, to limit the field to two pre-approved candidates who will protect the status quo. Third-party candidates are blocked from debates, independent movements are buried under restrictive ballot-access laws, and ranked-choice voting—the one system that would allow true majority rule—is resisted by both parties with ferocity. This is not democracy. It is an illusion of choice, maintained to keep power where it has always been: in the hands of the entrenched few. To restore trust, we must first restore competition.

Gerrymandering, the great tool of incumbency, must be abolished. It is not representation—it is a con. It is the process by which politicians choose their voters rather than the other way around. It is the means through which the outcome of an election is often decided long before a single vote is cast. And it is an insult to the very idea of democracy. Districts must be drawn by independent commissions, not by the parties that seek to benefit from them. The people must be allowed to choose their leaders freely, without the invisible hand of political operatives tipping the scales before the first ballot is even counted.

We must ensure that every American has equal access to the vote. Not through empty platitudes about civic duty, but through real protections that guarantee the right to vote is not conditional on wealth, race, or location. Automatic voter registration must become the standard, removing arbitrary barriers that exist only to suppress participation. Election Day must be a national holiday, ensuring that no citizen is forced to choose between their paycheck and their voice in government. The expansion of mail-in and early voting must continue, making the franchise accessible to every working American, every disabled voter, every soldier overseas, every citizen who has been told for too long that their voice does not matter.

Campaign finance reform is not an afterthought in this fight—it is central to restoring trust. When corporations and billionaires can buy elections, the people lose faith in their ability to influence the system. Public financing of elections must be expanded, dark money must be purged from politics, and Citizens United must be overturned. The American people must know that when they vote, they are not simply legitimizing a contest between the highest bidders. Their voices must be louder than the lobbyists, their will must outweigh the wealth of the ruling class.

Transparency must be the foundation of our electoral system. Every vote must be verifiable. Every machine must produce a paper trail. Every election must be subject to rigorous, independent audits to ensure its legitimacy. No American should ever walk away from the polls wondering if their vote was counted. This is not a radical demand. It is the bare minimum requirement of a functioning democracy.

And finally, trust cannot be restored if elections remain an instrument of political warfare. A nation that treats its electoral process as a battleground rather than a sacred duty is a nation on the brink of collapse. The right to vote is not a partisan tool, not a weapon to be wielded against political opponents, but the very cornerstone of a free society. And yet, those in power have turned elections into a game of manipulation, deception, and control. They do not seek fair elections—they seek favorable outcomes. They do not care about integrity—they care about victory. They do not defend democracy—they weaponize it against the very people it was meant to serve.

The system must be protected from those who seek to manipulate it, whether through foreign interference, partisan election boards, or misinformation campaigns designed to sow doubt. The enemies of democracy are not always external. More often than not, they are within, draped in the language of patriotism while they subvert the very principles they claim to uphold. From Tammany Hall to Watergate, from Jim Crow suppression tactics to modern-day digital disinformation, the history of American elections is riddled with examples of those who would rather rule by deceit than by the will of the people. Every rigged district line, every vote suppressed, every fraudulent political maneuver is an attack on the very legitimacy of the republic itself.

Alexander Hamilton warned that "if the government is not adequate to the preservation of the Union, we must seek a substitute." That substitute is not the manipulation of the voting process, but its restoration to an unshakable standard of fairness, transparency, and accountability. Election oversight must be independent, insulated from the whims of party leaders who see democracy not as a sacred duty, but as a means to maintain their grip on power. The fox cannot guard the henhouse. Political parties should not be in charge of drawing their own maps, setting their own rules, or policing themselves when electoral fraud and manipulation arise. Oversight must be in the hands of those who serve no party, no corporation, no special interest—only the people.

Foreign interference is not an abstract threat. It is a reality, and history proves it. From Cold War propaganda efforts to modern cyber warfare, outside forces have sought to destabilize American elections because they understand what too many within our own government have forgotten—that the legitimacy of a republic is its greatest strength, and once that legitimacy is questioned, the nation weakens from within. No government, foreign or domestic, should have the ability to undermine the confidence of the American voter. The system must be fortified, secured from digital infiltration, and protected from the influence of foreign money that floods our campaigns under the guise of corporate donations and political action committees.

Misinformation campaigns, whether orchestrated by foreign actors or domestic operatives, have become one of the most insidious threats to democracy. When elections are no longer about policy but about sowing chaos, when voters no longer know who to trust, when reality itself becomes a casualty of political warfare, democracy is already in its death throes. A republic cannot function when truth itself is under siege. Voter education must be fortified, misinformation must be combated with transparency, and media literacy must be elevated as a national priority. Thomas Jefferson said that "an enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic." An electorate fed lies, misled by those in power, manipulated into hating their fellow citizens rather than the corruption that binds them, is not enlightened—it is enslaved.

The people must control their elections—not the parties, not the corporations, not the political machines that have rigged the game for generations.

This is not a radical idea. This is democracy as it was meant to be. But democracy must be defended—not just from foreign adversaries, but from those within our own borders who seek to twist the system for their own gain. The power of elections belongs to the people, and it is past time that they reclaim it. If the institutions meant to uphold free and fair elections will not defend the people, then the people must rise to defend themselves. Trust in elections will not be restored through platitudes and promises. It will be restored when the people tear down the barriers erected to keep them powerless and demand a system that serves them—not the political class, not the corporate elite, not the entrenched establishment—but them, the rightful rulers of this republic.

The crisis of faith in American elections is not a mystery. It is the natural consequence of a system that has ceased to be truly democratic. A government that fears its own people will do everything in its power to control them, and what greater control exists than the ability to dictate the terms of their participation? The right to vote has been twisted into a privilege, handed out selectively, restricted by bureaucracy, and manipulated by those who wish to keep power in the hands of the few. But let it be clear: the vote does not belong to the ruling class. It does not belong to the parties. It does not belong to the institutions that have rigged the game in their favor. It belongs to the people. And it is past time that they take it back.

But it is not beyond repair. The people have the power to demand a system that is free, fair, and secure. This is not wishful thinking. This is not a utopian dream. This is the foundation of a functioning republic. The idea that a fair electoral process is too complicated, too expensive, or too idealistic is nothing more than the propaganda of those who benefit from its corruption. Every major shift in the rights of the people—from the abolition of slavery to women’s suffrage, from civil rights to labor protections—was dismissed as impossible until the people made it inevitable. The restoration of a true democratic process is no different. It is not a question of if. It is a question of will.

They have the right to an electoral process that serves them, not the interests of the ruling class. This is not negotiable. This is not a request. It is a demand that echoes through history, from the cries of revolutionaries who overthrew monarchies to the marchers who faced down tyranny to secure their place at the ballot box. The American people do not beg for their rights. They do not ask politely for their voices to be heard. They seize them. They carve them into the foundation of this nation with blood, with struggle, with the unrelenting belief that democracy is not a gift from the powerful—it is a weapon against them.

And they have the responsibility to rise up and insist that the most fundamental right in a democracy—the right to vote—be protected, expanded, and restored. This is not just about the present. It is about the generations that follow. The moment a people accept that their vote is a mere formality, a meaningless gesture in a rigged contest, is the moment democracy dies. The moment they surrender their right to choose their leaders is the moment they become subjects, not citizens. The ruling class does not have to openly strip the people of their power; they need only convince them that they are powerless to change the system. That is the greatest lie ever sold to the American voter, and it must be shattered beyond repair.

The future of this republic depends on it. This is the line in the sand. Either the American people reclaim their elections, or they submit to a system that will never willingly relinquish its control. Either they demand a process free from corporate money, from partisan manipulation, from gerrymandered districts and rigged primaries, or they accept that their democracy exists in name only. There is no middle ground. There is no waiting for the system to fix itself. There is only action. There is only the force of a free people who refuse to be ruled by deception.

The time to rise is now. The time to act is now. The future of the republic is not in the hands of the politicians, the courts, or the parties. It is in the hands of the people. And history will remember what they did with it.