the creation of perception

  Today being election day my thoughts are naturally turned to that. First thing this morning my cable television provider is having difficulties and I can't watch tv. You have to ask, is this election interference? That I say tongue in check but I'm certain there are those thinking just that. Here, in the election of 2024 the integrity of the election process is deeply in doubt. It certainly hinges a great deal on the internet. The internet as we know it today has only be around for about thirty years. My feeling is that for the public in general the time is actually a bit less. As a senior citizen I realize I came late to the party and haven't developed quite the dependence of the younger generations. And yes, all that "misinformation" on the web does influence others in a major way. 

  You have to understand what "misinformation " really is. It isn't necessarily an outright lie or fabrication, rather a distortion of the truth or the presenting of statistical data in a misleading fashion. Mark Twain is credited with having said, " there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. He spoke the truth in that regard and it is ever more so today. If one were to listen solely to the internet you would get the impression that the LGBTQ+ community predominates the world. The fact is less than 3% of the population identifies themselves in that way. A statistic versus a perception. And that is the danger in all this social media, the creation of perception. What the media now calls, influence. 

  There are more Latinos in America than there are blacks. We are back to identifying as black aren't we? That's a difficult one to keep up with and I certainly don't intend to offend anyone. Latinos are about 19%, Blacks about 13% and white about 75%. I know, that adds up to 107% but that's the statistics provided from the census bureau, go figure. There are many other lists breaking all that down even further into sub-categories. There is even a list of those "identifying" as "whatever" they choose regardless of biological facts. That is in the perception category in my opinion. And the perception certainly is that our election process isn't secure enough to ensure a fair result. 

  It is a perception created by the media. I know many will blame Donald Trump for all of that. Perhaps he is to blame for questioning the results. Regardless, the perception remains strong. A perception created seldom goes away completely. Will this lead to a major reform in the electoral process and/or methods? I highly doubt that it will. The push is on for ever more "remote" means of casting those ballots. Mail-in, absentee or whatever else you want to mention. It's my feeling the more remote it becomes the less secure it becomes as well. It's a concession to convenience. So many just don't want to make that effort to get to their polling places, citing a hundred different reasons they can't. Everyone should be the exception! 

  I also feel like the electronic tabulation of votes is open for abuse. Remember in the last national election when those "sd" cards were lost for a brief time? Just where were there and who had access to them? This time we are hearing about ballot boxes being set afire, what of those ballots? There are those telling you they would make no statistical difference. That's true. At least in the past it has always been a statistical fact that if all the mail-in and absentee ballots were discounted the results of the election would not change. A statistical fact no one wants to hear or acknowledge. Just seems awfully strange to me that your local bank will know instantly if you are overdrawn ten cents in your checking account, yet when tabulating ballots the results are questionable. It might take days! If not for the electoral college those results would still be questioned today. And that is my perception anyway. 

  Well whatever the reality is I will going to my polling place this afternoon. I will personally fill out my ballot and place it in that electronic ballot box. I would happily and eagerly show my identification to anyone that asked for it. I will vote in person on election day. It's my civic duty to do so and not an inconvenience. Losing your freedom, now that's inconvenient. Remember things aren't always what you see but sometimes just a perception.