I’m going to attempt to make this simple, straightforward and really an easy question requiring only a “yes” or “no.” AND THEN AN ANSWER... to the present election debacle and for future elections to come.

When I was just a kid, maybe 12 years of age (43 years ago!), I remember watching political commercials on TV. Ford would say, “this” and Carter “that”.

I asked my dad, “who is telling the truth?”

Neither,” he replied.

“How can they get away with that?” I asked.

“That’s politics, son....” He explained that politics and the presidency had little to do with what was said or even done; it was about messaging and who believed the

For 40 years what my father described was true. Presidential candidates made promises during an election without having any plans of ever keeping their promises and felt little or no recourse; it was politics as usual. At the same time presidents seemed to simply react to differing situations differently depending on the political winds. During the Obama administration the phrase, “lead from behind” was coined, but it really came to fruition decades before through an environment of reacting to get a vote, instead of to win a vote.

Then in 2015,- HERE COMES TRUMP. “We’ll build a wall”... “Jobs will come back”... “Wages will increase”... “Taxes and regulations will be cut”... “Conservative judges”... “Win, win, win!” And we did!

Trump said what he’d do ahead of time-and did it! He questioned foreign policy decisions from the past, like Iran and China. And while politicians and their families for decades seemed to prosper greatly through nepotism and granting political access. Not a kind word was spoken of Trump’s lack of focus on these ethically questionable practices. Consider the other questionable practices: the lies before and after the election, bribery for action like Iran and allowing China to eat the American dream up as its own. Do we really ever want to go back to that?

Trump did what NO other president had done. He said it. He did it. And he changed the way we deal with other nations and WE WON!

Flash forward four years and it comes down to one simply “yes” or “no” question. Simple, but not necessarily short.

“Do you honestly and objectively believe that a president that has done what he said he’d do (when others hadn’t for over 40 years!).... has lost any support from those that voted for him four years ago? And if he hasn’t lost any of his supporters, but instead gained, how exactly did he lose the election?”

I know, that was two questions. Facts are Trump’s support increased. How do I know? How about the 90-mile trump parade in blue-California. The Butler, PA rally with 57,000 in attendance during a pandemic. How about the 300 % increase in the black vote and the increase in the hispanic vote. The list and proof goes on and on. How about the Trump flags that still fly because his supporters know he won and are election results.

Now let’s talk about what’s next. Let’s talk about altering an election outcome that is obviously wrong.

Vote audits, vote recounts by including ‘these’ ballots, but throwing out ‘those ballots’.... NADA! That won’t right this wrong and it certainly won’t protect us from this injustice occurring in the next election. You see, this is about equal protection. This is about equal value. This is about the contract that exists between the governed and the government.

This is what I mean:

1.) Equal protection doesn’t just protect under the law, but should grant us freedom under the law. The states that changed their laws in the months leading up to the election violated the protection of the governed of neighboring states by increasing freedom to vote while others remained the same. These changes are the very things that created the unknowing, invalidating environment we now find ourselves in.

2.) My vote is as valuable as your vote. That was the contractbetween the electors and the elected. That was the foundational concept that makes every election fair and one of the quintessential variables? Cost. If Pennsylvannia, Wisconsin or Michigan as individual states mail ballots to all their residents... or begin accepting mail in ballots weeks ahead, hasn’t the cost of my vote increased, while at the same time, the value of my vote decreased?

This is a violation of my contract with my country as a voter! It’s also a violation of the equal protection, I’m afforded to protect me and my rights as a part of the governed.

No audit, no recount will fix this. THEN HOW???

The five or six swing states that the tide of this election are being determined by ALL have significant voter fraud issues brought about because of the very changes in individual voter laws that I’ve mentioned. For this reason, the ballots of those five or six states should be invalidated in their entirety.

Now, with remaining states that there is no dispute about voter fraud and where there has been no change to voter laws that deny my equal protection (or yours) - If one of the presidential candidates meets the 270 threshold, you have “your” president. And if neither meets the threshold? Go to the remedy already afforded us in the Constitution. Where representatives, duly elected in each of the 50 states cast a vote for president.

That answers NOW. What about next time?

How’s this: biometric fingerprints. They are used to clock in and out at work. The are used for cell phones. Why not for voting to assure one registered voter casts one vote? Voters would/could have equal access to casting their votes, at home and away.

Jeff & Susannah Copeland

Kingfisher