There are some election integrity advocates who strongly believe election security begins and ends with voting machines. Others try to steer clear of “conspiracy” labels, so they shy away from complicated machine issues altogether.

Although caution is warranted when approaching allegations of interference or persistent errors, the reliability of voting equipment can’t be ignored in an attempt to walk the middle road — not if the goal is increasing voter confidence. Luckily, there are a variety of practical ways machine skepticism can and should be addressed.

Fears of machines gone amuck have existed for some time, with both sides having vocalized apprehension about machines at different points prior to 2020, including in 2019, when Democrats loudly advocated for the passage of the Securing America’s Federal Elections Act.

This distrust continues today and directly influences voting behavior — nothing could be clearer from plaintiff testimonies in a recent Georgia case, Curling v. Raffensperger. Clearly, distrust in America’s voting machines hasn’t gone away; it only bounces back and forth across party lines and must be dealt with. But that is easier said than done.

Fortunately, workable solutions do exist. However, the people best suited to bring these changes about might not be the ones you expect. Rather than D.C. politicians, local grassroots groups may be best suited to promote tangible changes on a county level — and many already have. Locals concerned with the reliability of machines may be surprised by their level of influence and should consider organizing and lobbying

Millions of illegal immigrants have poured through the U.S. southwest border since Joe Biden took the presidential oath of office in January 2021. By design. 

Contrary to the sentiments of the vast majority of Americans, Biden and congressional Democrats would very much like these “newcomers” to be able to vote — in November’s election, if possible. At least enough to keep the empty-vessel Democrat who currently occupies the White House for another four years. And they’re not going to let a little thing like the rule of law stand in their way. 

Congressional Republicans are looking to check the left’s illegal inclinations. 

“There is currently an unprecedented and a clear and present danger to the integrity of our election system, and that is the threat of noncitizens and illegal aliens voting in our elections,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during opening statements Wednesday at a Capitol steps press conference. 

Surrounded by lawmakers and election integrity watchdogs, Johnson laid out the case for urgent passage of the newly unveiled Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, aimed at shoring up glaring holes in the 30-year-old National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) passed during a simpler time, when politicians believed in borders. The bill would amend the 1993 “Motor Voter” law to require individuals to provide proof of citizenship before they are automatically registered to vote at state departments of motor vehicles and other agencies. It also requires states to remove foreign nationals from their voting rolls, something too many state election officials have

If nothing else, Apple’s horrible ad announcing the new iPad Pro has the virtue of being brutally honest. The one-minute clip opens with an old vinyl playing Sonny and Cher’s “All I Ever Need Is You,” and then shows an industrial press slowly crushing an eclectic assortment of old musical instruments, paint and art supplies, and Gen X-era toys and tchotchkes.

In other words, it destroys a bunch of stuff that makes life fun, unique, interesting, and fully human.  

After all that old stuff — the quirky objects and sentimental artifacts of the pre-digital era — has been flattened under the inexorable weight of machine technology, the press lifts up to reveal the new iPad Pro. The message is so obvious it hardly needs to be spelled out: This thin digital tablet is supposed to replace — and supersede — all these clunky, analog, obsolete things. All you need, we are made to understand, is this new piece of digital technology, this iPad. The rest, the detritus of the real world, can simply be destroyed.

Apple CEO Tim Cook posted the ad on X and commented, “Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create.” (An odd comment, after just showing us all the things it’ll be used to destroy.)

Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we’ve ever created, the most advanced display we’ve ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create. pic.twitter.com/6PeGXNoKgG

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May