Election fraud was potentially expanded in the 2020 election. The drastic expansion of absentee ballet requests, use of unsolicited mail-in ballots sent to all registered voters in some jurisdictions, other efforts to make voting safe in a pandemic, political bickering, and legal challenges before and after the 2020 election resulted in a near total lack of confidence among nearly half of the voters in the United States. Before these losing voters regain confidence in our elections, these issues must be thoroughly, honestly, and openly investigated. All actual problems must be solved. In my opinion, our current election laws, at every level, are inadequate for the internet age and the twenty first century. In addition, the quest for political power and the level of animosity existing between the left and right, progressives and conservatives, and Democrats and Republicans makes elections ripe for fraud of all types imaginable in the internet age. Before We the People can all be confident in our elections, our election laws must be changed to meet the demands of both the twenty first century and our deeply divided nation.
First, this discussion must start with the Constitution of the United States. Article I, Section 4, states, The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at anytime by law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of choosing Senators. Similarly, Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 2, states, Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. Constitutionally, only the state legislatures can make laws affecting both state and Presidential elections. No elected or appointed state official and no state or federal court can make laws or rules affecting elections. That obligation rests solely with the legislatures of each state. Courts must invalidate any decision by non-legislative entities regarding elections in any state. The failure to invalidate such non-legislative interference in elections would not be GOOD JUDICIAL BEHAVIOR. Non-legislative modifications of election rules occurred in the 2020 election. In my opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States must rule on these Constitutional violations of our election laws thereby establishing an unchallengeable president regarding non-legislative election interference. Otherwise, the potential for election fraud and future unconstitutional non-legislative interference will continue to plague our elections.
Second, although state legislatures are currently responsible for election laws, Article I, Section 4, provides a means for the national Congress to provide critical guidelines for future elections when the Constitution states, but the Congress may at anytime by law make or alter such Regulations. Consequently, it seems reasonable and Constitutional for the national government to set standards which must be met by state legislatures enacting twenty first century election laws and reduce the possibility of election fraud. Several suggestions for nationally required election Regulations seem appropriate.
The process of collecting and tabulating votes must be safe, secure, and monitored in a completely open and non-partisan manner in every jurisdiction in our nation to eliminate election fraud. It is reasonable to expect that every state must tabulate their vote count no more than twenty-four hours after the close of polling places which must also be the deadline for receipt of all types of mail-in ballots. All ballots received after the voting deadline must not be accepted as valid regardless of post mark dates. This must also include overseas and military absentee and mail-in ballots. The accommodation for these voters must be the ability to request absentee or mail-in ballots two weeks earlier than other voters. After all, each individual is responsible for securely casting their ballot and returning it to authorized ballot boxes or polling places by the election deadline eliminating the possibility that their vote becomes part of any election fraud. Florida and Oregon were able to accomplish this goal in the 2020 election.
All equipment and software used in the vote counting process must be manufactured, developed, licensed in the United States, and approved by a national election commission charged with certifying and approving these systems. After all, elections are the way We the People of the United States select our leaders. We must be confident that neither other nations nor our citizens have any opportunity to manipulate our vote counts. Both the hardware and software must not be WiFi, cloud, or internet compatible to prevent hacking or off-site data or software storage or alteration. Access to all election systems must be secure. Access to hardware systems must require a locking system for each machine; and repairs and software up-dates must occur only in the presence of an equal number of monitors from each political party. Vote counts must only be transmitted in-person, by encrypted cell phone text messages, encrypted Emails, or secure land lines with at least one person from each political party approving both the sent and received messages. The provable number of voters casting ballots and the actual number of ballots counted must be equal or a full audit must occur. This audit could be triggered if the excess in ballots counted is 50% or more than the difference between the votes for the top two candidates for an office or ballot issue and the number of proven voters in the contested counting location. This system would prevent groups from adding illegal ballots to a location for counting. Ballot signatures must match the voter registration signatures and the ballot signature document must be able to be matched with the ballot at all stages of the counting process. Use of bar codes unique to each registered voter would accomplish this goal. This process would speed the process of approving or disqualifying provisional ballots where a mail-in ballot had already been cast in a person™s name or at another polling place. If scanning software is used to validate signatures, the precision setting on each scanner and its software must be unalterable to ensure that signature matching is consistent in all jurisdictions. Otherwise, a person must validate the signatures. Signature invalidation must be accepted by an election official from each political party. The equipment and software must be made and developed in the USA. This would be another step toward elimination of election fraud.
Tabulation of votes must be monitored by members of each political party with unrestricted access. These election monitors must have the ability to observe every ballot during every step of the process, from ballot collection, signature validation, tabulation, and transmission of final vote counts. Since this type of unrestricted access was denied to election monitors in jurisdictions in virtually every section of our nation, US Marshalls must have the authority to stop the counting process and sequester all ballots in a counting facility until full access is granted to all election monitors. If monitors are not allowed in a facility and ballots are not counted by the twenty-four-hour count deadline, the ballots would be disqualified. The election officials for that location would be responsible for disenfranchisement of the voters in their jurisdiction. This level of law enforcement would eliminate this type election fraud.
Accusations that lost ballots appeared long after most of the votes were counted altering election outcomes have plagued our elections for decades. Such accusations occurred in several jurisdictions during the 2020 election. To counteract this area of contention, all ballots must be delivered to count facilities no later than two hours after the end of the election season when US Marshalls start patrolling the facility to prevent delivery of additional ballots. To be allowed for counting, these late ballots must be accompanied by at least one election monitor or official from each political party and a letter from the originating location describing the reason for the delay in delivery signed by one official from each political party. Before counting starts, monitors or election officials must certify in writing that no blank ballots are in the counting area. After counting starts with the requisite monitors or officials from each party to observe the count, all doors leading into the count area must be locked to ensure that no unauthorized ballots enter the area. Access to the count area must only be granted after one monitor from each political party after they ensures that no new ballots enter the count area. Shift changes must also be stringently monitored to ensure that no new ballot enter the count area. Failure to adhere to these requirements must result in disqualification of all ballots in the offending count facility. Again, this level of law enforcement would eliminate this type election fraud.
Harvesting, collecting absentee or mail-in ballots from people in neighborhoods or residential facilities by any individual, must be illegal in every state. If election officials determine that voters require assistance to get their ballots to counting locations, as in a pandemic, the harvesters must consist of one election official from each party. Each voter must place their ballot in a secure ballot box. Mail-in ballot boxes must be secure and locked with a key kept at the proper jurisdiction location and opened only in the presence of at least one election official from each political party.
Coaching voters by an individual coach must be illegal in every jurisdiction in our country to prevent election fraud. If a voter or a group of voters requires assistance with in-person, absentee, or mail-in ballots, the help must be rendered in the presence of an election official from each political party. Two settings where voters could need assistance are senior centers and disability group homes where residents have the capacity to understand the votes they are casting. A person in management of the facility must request the assistance. In these settings, the assistance must be limited to reading the ballot, allowing the residents to mark their ballot, or marking the ballot for the resident in the presence of an election official from each political party.
Another option, for voters who are physically unable to mark a ballot or are slow readers, is development of oral ballots where the office and the candidates or ballot issues are recorded and read to the voter by the device. The voter would record their choice after each item on the ballot. For this to be free of potential fraud, the verbal voter™s choice must follow the recording of each ballot item. For example, the oral ballot would say, the choices for President are Dick and Jane, followed by the oral ballot recording of the voter saying, Jane. If a voter does not like any candidate or does not have sufficient information to make a responsible decision, the voter should be informed that they should say Abstain. This idea could increase participation in our elections.
With the advent of early in-person voting, absentee voting, and unsolicited mail-in voting, the United States no longer has an election day. We have an election season. Consequently, we need a nationally mandated start and end to the election season. In my opinion, a one-month election season is all we need. If we had a mandated 2020 election season, it would have started October 6, and ended November 3. The earliest absentee ballots could be requested, and unsolicited mail-in ballots could be sent to voters, would be October 6. In Presidential election years, four Presidential Debates and one Vice-Presidential Debate are necessary. Two Presidential debates and the Vice-Presidential debate must occur before the start of the election season. This is the best way to ensure that every voter can evaluate each candidate™s capacity to fulfill their duties as President and Vice-President in a stressful contested situation. Each debate should have two moderators, one from each side of the political spectrum. This format would provide a greater opportunity to conduct fair and impartial debates and a more informed electorate.
Finally, as voting laws exist in every state in our nation today, no state election official can guarantee that their state can certify that voter fraud cannot occur in their state. There is one simple reason that this statement is true. In our nation today, voter fraud is undetectable. The linked article provides a detailed discussion of the nature of undetectable voter fraud and potential solutions to the issues involved. In my opinion and that of our Founders, voter fraud matters.
It would be wonderful to have an election where that vast majority of the voters had confidence that the results were fair and free of fraud.
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