Vote?

There’s something happening right now that I think Americans need to pay attention to.

And it’s bigger than Donald Trump.

It’s bigger than Republicans and Democrats.

It’s about something much more fundamental:

Who gets to vote, and who gets to decide how we vote?

Donald Trump has spent years arguing that American elections are vulnerable to fraud, particularly mail-in voting.

And here’s the strange part.

Trump himself has voted by mail.

Now, protecting elections is absolutely legitimate. Every American should want elections that are secure, accurate and trustworthy.

If somebody isn’t eligible to vote, they shouldn’t vote.

If somebody votes twice, that’s a crime.

If voter rolls contain people who have moved or died, they should be updated.

I don’t think that’s controversial.

But there’s another side to election security that we don’t talk about nearly enough:

Making sure eligible Americans aren’t prevented from voting.

That’s where things get interesting.

The Trump administration has been pushing changes involving voter databases, mail ballots and election administration.

Some of those efforts have already reached the Supreme Court.

And what we’re beginning to see isn’t necessarily the end of the argument.

It may be the beginning.

Some rules have been blocked because they’re being introduced too close to the 2026 election.

But 2028 is two years away.

That creates plenty of time for new regulations, new lawsuits and potentially major changes to the way Americans vote.

And that’s why I think we’re asking the wrong question.

The question shouldn’t be:

How do Republicans want us to vote?

And it shouldn’t be:

How do Democrats want us to vote?

The question should be:

What voting system works best for the American people?

Because there’s another enormous problem with American democracy that almost nobody talks about enough.

Millions and millions of eligible Americans simply don’t participate.

Think about that.

We spend billions of dollars campaigning.

We have political advertisements everywhere.

We have cable news arguing twenty-four hours a day.

We have rallies.

We have debates.

We have polls.

We have consultants.

We have political parties raising mountains of money.

And after all of that…

millions of Americans still don’t vote.

That should bother Republicans.

That should bother Democrats.

That should bother independents.

That should bother everybody.

Because democracy isn’t supposed to be a competition to figure out which party can navigate the voting rules better.

Democracy is supposed to represent the people.

So here’s the challenge I think America should take on:

How do we make voting both incredibly secure and incredibly accessible?

Those two things aren’t enemies.

They should be partners.

We live in a country where I can transfer thousands of dollars from my phone.

I can deposit a check by taking a picture.

I can unlock my bank account with my face.

I can board an airplane with a digital identification.

I can communicate instantly with somebody on the other side of the planet.

And artificial intelligence is advancing almost every week.

Yet when Election Day arrives, we’re still arguing about envelopes, bar codes, polling locations and whether somebody’s ballot arrived on time.

Maybe the opportunity isn’t to make voting harder.

Maybe the opportunity is to make voting better.

Imagine if America’s goal were something extraordinary:

Not 50 percent participation.

Not 60 percent.

Not 70 percent.

Imagine saying:

We’re going to build the most secure, transparent and accessible voting system in the world — and we’re going to try to get 90 percent of eligible Americans participating.

That’s a moonshot.

And America knows something about moonshots.

Bring together election officials.

Cybersecurity experts.

Constitutional scholars.

Technology companies.

Republicans.

Democrats.

Independents.

And, importantly, ordinary voters.

Then give them one mission:

Build a voting system Americans can trust and Americans will actually use.

Maybe that includes traditional polling places.

Maybe it includes expanded early voting.

Maybe it includes mail ballots.

Maybe someday technology allows additional secure ways to participate.

But whatever system we build has to satisfy two principles simultaneously:

Every legitimate vote should count.

And:

Every eligible American should have a reasonable opportunity to cast one.

That’s the balance.

Because there’s something even bigger at stake than Donald Trump.

Presidents come and go.

Political parties rise and fall.

Supreme Court justices eventually change.

But the voting system belongs to the American people.

And instead of spending the next two years fighting over which Americans should have an easier or harder time voting, maybe we should ask a completely different question:

How do we get more Americans into democracy?

Not fewer.

Imagine Election Day when 90 percent of Americans participate.

Young people.

Old people.

Republicans.

Democrats.

Independents.

Rich.

Poor.

Urban.

Rural.

Everybody showing up.

And then we count the votes.

We accept the result.

And we move forward together.

That’s not Republican democracy.

That’s not Democratic democracy.

That’s simply democracy.

And if we’re serious about building this country for the next 250 years, maybe that’s a pretty good place to start.