US proves electoral systems need transparency for trust

In a profoundly perceptive piece (“American mythology dies on the Hill”, 8/1), David Kilcullen points out that Thursday’s events in Washington are no surprise given the scale and passion of Trump rallies, that the perception of a stolen election is a primary cause of revolution worldwide and that, in a three-way wrangle between the establishment and populists of both left and right, the media is not neutral but part of the elite. One thing is certain: before 2024 the US would be well-advised to undertake a thorough review of its election processes to ensure that there are no opportunities anywhere, whether by mail-in ballots or other means, for vote manipulation and that what, in the US, used to be called “the Australian ballot” is administered everywhere to Australian standards.

Peter Edgar, Garran, ACT

The appalling events in the US Capitol building couldn’t possibly occur in Australia, could they? Some commentators have forgotten the events of August 19, 1996, when a group of people broke away from what had been a peaceful ACTU organised protest in Canberra, following the election of the Howard Coalition government, forcing their way into Parliament House, assaulting police and damaging property. Albeit on a much smaller scale than this week’s events in the US, militant and violent protesters, unable to contain their rage at the outcome of a democratic process, forcibly invaded our parliament. Some memories are short, or perhaps, in this case, selective.

JD Urquhart, Rozelle, NSW

While I consider in each of the following examples that an invasion of a parliamentary precinct is always a bridge too far, can someone provide me with the moral distinction between the political protests of the people in Hong Kong and those in America or by the people of Belorussia?

Wilson Tuckey, Ascot, WA

A huge positive that could come from the Washington protest would be if the presidential voting system was standardised across the states, with stringent (photo?) identification of voters, both in person and postal voting, to stamp out fraud. If voting machines are used they must be government designed and produced without the ability to change votes afterwards. The present system is chaotic and open to fraud, which led to the riot.

The Australian federal government should use this illustration to introduce photo identification for all voters, and a national digital roll, to stop multiple voting. Voting integrity creates trust in the government and peace in the community.

John Moore, Wangaratta, Vic

Trump has failed his “deplorables” by allowing them to believe they could claim the election with violence. He gave them hope, these people so let down by globalisation and so despised by their own elites, but in the end he failed to act as a leader.

I could forgive him his coarseness, vulgarity and tendency to overstatement during his presidency because he was getting the job done. I didn’t have to like him. But I cannot forgive these final weeks. When it became clear that no usable evidence was forthcoming, he should have declared that he would stand down but would continue the fight through the proper processes. Ultimately, he failed his supporters with his own narcissism.

Jane Bieger, Brisbane, Qld

The US presidential election has highlighted the need for the opaque US electoral processes to be overhauled. The presidential electoral college process was originally designed to ensure that small numbers of “elite” counties could not capture the presidency. But Joe Biden becoming president after winning only 16.7 per cent of about 3200 US counties shows that the US electoral processes are no longer fit for purpose.

Brent Walker, Killcare, NSW

Trump is rightly blamed for unleashing the mayhem on Capitol Hill, but the rot goes back a lot further to Newt Gingrich, who played a key role in undermining democratic norms in the US, and hastened political polarisation and partisan prejudice. He instructed Republicans to use words such as “betray, bizarre, decay, destroy, devour, greed, lie, pathetic, radical, selfish, shame, sick, steal, and traitors” about Democrats.

Nicholas Triggs, Katoomba, NSW