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In the wake of this year’s election, it seemed like a good idea to give my thoughts on where we currently stand. Before that, a huge thank you to those willing to serve on our electoral boards and councils; your investment in time and energy serves all the citizens. As well, thanks to our election officials and poll workers. Now, on to the thoughts.

1. About half of those in our area did not vote. I am not sure why many do not understand the need to be heard in the process.

2. Nationally, the Democrats spent over $51 million to help select the Republicans in primaries that they preferred to run against, that stunt worked well for them.

3. No one should believe that polls elect candidates, they do not! Those polls can have the effect of making voters believe their candidate is doing better or worse and they may not need your vote.

4. Elections are about the future, not the past. Republicans believed they could win by focusing on how bad President Biden’s administration has been rather than how they intended to solve those problems. Democrats focused on the fear some have of former President Trump should he win again.

5. It is fascinating that some states are able to count their votes by the end of the election day, while others have still not completed more than three weeks later, leaving voters wondering if there is any phony activity occurring.

6. Bundling became legal in Virginia in 2020. Prior to then it was occurring at such places as nursing homes where patients were warned that they would be kicked out. This paired with drop boxes is of even greater concern. In rural counties, ballot boxes are located in the registrar’s office with personnel present. This limits the mass dump of ballots by ballot harvesters. In urban areas, the boxes are generally located on the street with limited supervision. This can mean all sorts of criminal activities could be happening.

7. Several jurisdictions are considering or have committed to ranked choice voting. This is an effort to give voters the option of voting for a third or fourth candidate but then providing their second choice to help pick the winner. In theory, this might make sense, but it skews the process. For example, if one candidate gets 49% of the vote, the second-place candidate gets 26%, and the third candidate gets 25%, it is possible the second-place finisher would be declared the winner, thwarting voters’ desires.

8. Democrats did a far better job of getting their voters to vote earlier by either mail or bundling ballots.

9. $16.7 billion was spent on this year’s elections. Nationally, the most expensive House race was Virginia’s 7th district; $38 million was spent. The largest individual funder was George Soros who contributed $150 million, almost triple the second largest contributor.

10. While money is important in elections, voters should know from where it comes. Since Election Day, we have heard two important stories regarding the funding sources.

11. An important funding tool for Republicans is WinRed, a website that allows donors an uncomplicated way to contribute. The Democrats have a similar site, ActBlue. There is one interesting difference between the two. With WinRed, after entering your credit card number and expiration date one must enter your three-digit code for security purposes. With ActBlue, one doesn’t, this allows those in foreign countries to make donations, and they do. It is illegal but has been happening since at least 2008.

12. The other story is of a thirty-year-old who promised the Democrats that he would contribute a billion dollars to Democrats. He was their second largest donor at $40 million and promised far more in 2024. No regulators in the Biden administration questioned how someone his age could amass $26 billion by starting a cryptocurrency company. Especially since other cryptocurrencies with competing companies were dropping in value. After the election, the true story came out. He was a fraud! He was attracting investors with falsified profit reports, then using their investments for his personal use such as political contributions. It will be interesting to see who returns those donations to the investors.

We all have a responsibility to vote. At the same time, we must all be watchful that every vote is counted accurately.

Frank Ruff Jr. represents Lunenburg in the state Senate. His email address is Sen.Ruff@verizon.net.