This November there will be a midterm election, and already there’s talk about the potential for disputed results.

It’s a disturbing trend in national politics, one that has coincided with Donald Trump’s leadership of the Republican Party. I’m offended by how he continues to question the integrity of Election 2020. There’s a reason I take it personally.

I reported on every election between 1992 and 2002 when I was a full-time news reporter at the Independent. I later did the same thing in Election 2012 when I was editor of the Minneota Mascot.

I eagerly awaited election results at the Lyon County Government Center. I watched as county officials carefully performed their duty of processing ballots.

Elections in those days meant late nights. Our deadline, which was usually 12:30 a.m. on normal nights, was usually moved back to 1:30 a.m. in order to get as much election coverage as possible into the morning paper. I would then go home for a short night’s sleep and would be back by 9 a.m. for a day of election follow-up.

County staff worked late processing results. The townships near Marshall usually arrived first at the Government Center. They were followed by other townships and small cities.

Usually the last in line were Marshall, Minneota, Tracy and Cottonwood. The city clerks or administrators were often still at the Government Center at midnight.

There was a need for patience from city officials, the local media and the candidates who waited to see whether or not they got elected.

Never once did I have an Election Night situation where people got mad at each other. Instead we all had a shared goal, to get accurate results and to let everyone know about them as soon as possible.

In most cases I knew the candidates before they ran for office. I was very well acquainted with the county department heads, the county staff, and the city clerks.

I have also known our local election process as a voter. For 40 years I’ve cast a vote. I’ve been a resident of all three Marshall wards.

Every election year I’ve admired the care and concern that election clerks have shown at the polling place. They expertly check the registration rolls each time a voter approaches. They observe as voters go into the booths, cast their votes and then deposit them in the computer based scanner.

Usually I’ve known at least one or two of those election clerks. Everyone I’ve recognized has been a person whose integrity is beyond question.

They’re honest people. They don’t volunteer to serve in elections for prestige or because of a political agenda. Instead it’s simply a service they provide to their local ward. They donate an entire day to make sure elections run properly.

My election experiences in the Marshall area have some statewide and national implications. I believe that on a basic level people are the same wherever you go. Those who volunteer for their communities almost always do it for the right reasons.

That’s why I hope nobody takes Trump or his Make America Great Again supporters seriously when they talk about election fraud and kick around the idea of more federal oversight, especially in Blue States.

We don’t need federally appointed poll watchers looking over the shoulders of local and state officials. It would be another layer of bureaucracy and a high cost to taxpayers.

People who favor more federal oversight seem to want to make it harder for people to vote; which amounts to discrimination against minorities, poor people, senior citizens, young adults, the disabled and people who’ve recently moved.

Many Secretaries of State and every reputable news outlet have stated that claims of widespread fraud in Election 2020 were false. It’s time to take a stand for the tradition of free elections, a tradition that’s served America well throughout its history.

— Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent