elections

KN, p. 265 “Election Integrity 2020”

Almost every time the USA has had a Presidential election in the last few cycles, there have been concerns about voter fraud mentioned before, during, and after the elections. From both sides of the aisle. It’s important to note that after appropriate investigations by duly selected or elected officials, it has been determined that any discrepancies in the vote are rarely actual fraud, but rather caused by human error or mechanical malfunction. Despite the court cases that drag on after the elections, widespread voter fraud rarely happens. Frustrating to the opposition, but investigations show otherwise. Read this article to explain past occurrences.

 

In 2020, the voices of doom and gloom seem more strident. Is the Pandemic causing us to panic where no panic is warranted? We are, after all, in the middle of one of the most challenging periods in our recent history and want to make sure our wishes are known at the polls. Whether by paper ballot marked on the day of the election, or a mail-in ballot sent before the deadline, or early voting by machine/paper, or absentee ballots received after the actual Election Day, the American people must be able to exercise our inalienable right to vote.

 

Mail-in ballots have been attacked as problematic. In actual fact, some States have used mail-in ballots in previous elections without difficulty. Signatures are checked against those on file, bar codes on the envelopes are assigned to one person, checked, recorded, and votes are counted and verified.

 

The following nine States (and the District of Columbia) have already mailed ballots to all the registered voters:

California
Colorado
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Nevada
New Jersey
Oregon
Utah
Vermont
Washington

 

34 of the rest of the States will allow the registered voters to do mail-in voting because of Covid19, or no stated reason at all. Some States require people to request the mail-in ballot; some people automatically receive the application in the mail.

 

These seven States require some reason besides Covid19 in order to qualify for mail-in ballots:

Indiana
Louisiana
Mississippi
New York
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas

 

If you don’t like the method your State employs to conduct elections, vote for changes in your election laws, or for a change in the people that make those decisions. Proposed changes to the election procedures are often contained in the Public Questions sections of the ballot.

 

According to opponents of the mail-in process, one of the biggest issues is the mail itself. We have endured attacks on the efficacy of our postal system to deliver absentee ballots in the time needed, but millions of ballots have already been delivered via the Post Office throughout the country without problem. Any errors can be corrected via the stated methods on the individual State election site. Most States are providing drop-in boxes for the ballots in strategic spots for those people choosing not to vote in person. For some reason, Texas has decided to limit the drop-off sites to one per county. I hope that changes, as it creates a hardship for many voters that don’t need yet another challenge in 2020.

 

There have been questions raised about ballot rejection, so remember to sign your ballot and fill in the boxes correctly. There are tracking systems in place to make sure that the ballot is received.

 

Does voter fraud ever happen? Rarely, but yes, and the incidents are investigated. In a famous case in the North Carolina Ninth Congressional District 2018 election, a professional campaign worker and his hired group allegedly illegally collected registered voters’ absentee ballots and tampered with them in various ways. There was enough of a disparity in the vote distribution that questions were raised and the vote was determined not to be valid. The election was overturned and a new vote held months later. A related case is still in the courts.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article242174111.html

 

What about interference from foreign governments or other ‘bad actors?’ On October 6th, there was a joint video delivered to social media by the heads of four United States security agencies: the FBI, the NSA (National Security Administration), CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency), and NCSC (National Counterintelligence and Security Center). During the video they sought to reassure the public that they are basically pulling out all the stops to make sure that our national election is safe and secure from all attacks, domestic and foreign.

The video can be seen at fbi.org.
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/election-crimes-and-security


In the meantime, CISA director, Christopher Krebs, advises us as voters to:

Prepare (Choose our voting venue or method and follow Covid protocols)
Participate (VOTE, and perhaps even volunteer to help with the process)
Patience (be ready to wait a few days for the elections to be verified, since some entities have extended deadlines for receipt of mail-in ballots. In other words, if the winner of the Presidential race can’t be declared on Election Night, we should be patient. It may take an extra few days this year to get all the votes counted.)

 

Bottom line? Exercise your right to vote.

Every vote counts, at every single level of government.

 

 

KN, p. 265 “Election Integrity 2020” Read More »

KN, p. 125 “Elections and Voter Fraud”

 

 

In the USA, 34 states as well as the District of Columbia open the polls for early voting, usually for about ten days before the official Election Day.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx

 

I voted earlier today and had some time afterward to look up some facts about elections and the occasional crime and misdeeds surrounding them.

 

 

Is individual voter fraud committed during modern day elections?

 

The League of Women Voters helps out at the polls in order to verify eligible voter ID, but in some areas where there are lots of voters and not enough help, errors are occasionally made, but this is not fraud. Every once in a while we hear a case about someone stuffing the ballot box or voting in place of a dead person, but that’s incredibly rare. Between 2002 and 2005 there were only 5 multiple voting cases prosecuted, and the DOJ convicted only 86 cases of ‘improper voting’ – nationwide. That’s way less than 1% of the total votes for that period of time, but election officials do make improvements as infractions occur.

 

There are serious penalties involved, because at both the federal and state level, there are big fines ($10,000 for each incident) and jail time (up to ten years in Texas).  Great motivation for folks to stay honest when at the voting booth.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-voter-fraud/2011/10/04/gIQAkjoYTL_story.html

 

 

 

Can elections be ‘rigged’ by a candidate because of the way we vote?

 

Many parts of the country have voting machines that have curtains that close behind the voter as they enter – they are about the size of a department store dressing room and nobody can see what the voter has chosen.

The voter walks into the booth and pulls a three-foot lever to close the curtain. As the voter presses small levers next to the candidate names, votes are noted by the machine. When the curtain is opened by moving the big lever, all the votes are recorded. After the polling place closes, a polling official notes the count (the number of people who have used the machine, not the actual votes) that has been registered on the back of each machine. That final count is verified for each machine by officials from each party. But, machines break down, and the count comes under question as well as the individual votes, not because of fraud, but because of mechanical failure.

 

Other parts of the country use what can only be described as open-sided cardboard boxes that sit on desks. The voter stands in front of the box, records the votes on a paper ballot, and if he/she is tall enough, can see whatever the neighboring voter has chosen on his/her ballot. Not sure who to vote for? Check your neighbor’s answers. Those boxes are merely a nod to privacy during the voting process.

 

Paper ballots are still hand counted in many parts of the country, allowing for human error to come into play. Ballots stick together, counting doesn’t start until late into the evening, vision gets blurry when hundreds or even thousands of ballots need to be checked and rechecked at 3am.

 

In some states, completed ballots are handed directly to polling place officials; in others, a wooden box with a slot in the top is available. Sis voted in a room in Texas that had a big open bucket for the completed ballots because the wooden boxes were full. My North Carolina cousin used a paper ballot that had bar codes at the top. When he was done voting, he slid that paper into an electronic box that grabbed it like an ATM machine and recorded it. He assumes that someone emptied the box periodically, because he said it was only the size of his home printer. Where are those ballots kept during the many days of early voting? They are collected and locked up.

 

While there have been changes made to the ‘booth’ over the years, the scandal involving the style of ballot itself during a Presidential election, resulted in court cases that went on for months. Remember the ‘chad’ recount in Florida in 2000? Bush was elected, but Gore supporters declared foul.

http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~goguen/courses/275f00/abc-chads.html

 

Throughout most political campaigns during my voting life (more years than I’d like to admit) there has been mud slinging from all sides, some campaigns more vicious than others, some better funded than others, some making up ‘facts’ about the other side.

 

As we get closer to Election Day, some of the nasty rhetoric has been scaled back, but if you believed everything being said, the ballot would look like this:

 

 

Then there are the authentic candidate scandals that rock our sensibilities. Sexual indiscretions, illegal drugs, corruption – the stuff worthy of an expose – all brought to our attention so that we can ‘throw the bums out’ or ‘keep the bums out.’ In these days of instant media coverage it’s hard to imagine why/how a sitting government official or a potential candidate thinks they can get away with some of the stuff we hear about. The thing is, we have to sort through the junk in the ads and figure out what is true and what is merely a vicious smear campaign. Just because the info is on the internet or in a TV ad, doesn’t make it true. Fact checking with three or more non-affiliated sources might help.

 

A recent article in the Washington Post (October, 2016) points out some of the problems with current accusations about voter fraud and election rigging:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/29/is-this-proof-of-voter-fraud-or-election-rigging-a-user-guide/

 

 

What does entertainment media have to say?

Hollywood does not always look upon Election Day with favor, perhaps because there are so many colorful candidates, hot button issues, and actual scandals that just beg for a great script. Here are five popular election themed movies:

 

The Candidate (1972) – candidate has no hope of winning, and he’s in the race so that he can speak up about the issues. But, his ideas resonate with the voters and he wins.

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9807E6DA1F3EE63BBC4850DFB0668389669EDE

 

 

All the President’s Men (1976)- based on investigative journalism concerning the real-life Nixon/Watergate scandal that eventually caused the downfall of the administration. People went to jail as a result of the illegal activities uncovered.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/all-the-presidents-men-at-40/

 

 

Wag the Dog (1997)- dark comedy involving a Presidential sex scandal about to be exposed the day before election, and a fake war staged to distract the voters.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wag-the-dog-1998

 

 

Swing Vote (2008)-  ‘every vote counts’ taken to its extreme. Some say, conceptually based on the actual Humphrey/Nixon 1968 Presidential campaign, where the voting was so close that one more vote in each precinct nationwide might have changed the result.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/swing-vote-2008

 

 

Ides of March (2011)- a look at the inner workings of a state level campaign, and how staffers create the media image of a candidate, sometimes with terrible results. Integrity in politics is explored. http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/theidesofmarch/

 

 

If reading about elections interests you, any bookstore will have several non-fiction titles written by the campaigners themselves, most notably Presidential contenders and winners. At this time of year? They’re probably on display near the front of the store.

 

Whatever your party, whatever your ‘hot button’ issue, whomever your favorite candidate – get out there and vote. If you suspect irregularities at your polling place, report the problem to the entity in your state that oversees elections – either the Secretary of State or the State Board of Elections.

 

If you think that it’s time to ‘throw the bums out,’ then vote. It’s the only way to change the status quo. In my opinion, if you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to complain about the outcome. Thank goodness there are plenty of honest, good-hearted candidates that want to serve. They need your vote to make and/or support good programs for your community.

 

Then, after you vote, thank a veteran. They helped protect our right to continue to do so in this great, free country in which we live.

 

*Ballot design by Patti Phillips. No actual wombats were listed on Kerrian’s ballot today.

*Updated November, 2016

 

 

 

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