Paper ballots must first be designed, printed, and published. Simple typos and deliberate manipulations can destroy elections.
"Butterfly ballots" in Florida 2000 induced elderly voters to mistakenly choose Pat Buchanan. Absentee ballots in Ohio 2004 omitted John Kerry
EP activists must proofread all draft ballots BEFORE they go to the printer, guarantee enough are printed for all registered voters, and make sure they get back to the election boards on time.
Ink specifications must be verified so ballots will be readable in electronic imaging machines.
2. The ballots must be carefully protected during initial delivery.
Once back at the election boards, the printed ballots must be protected before they go out to the voters.
Enough paper ballots must also be available at the polling stations to supply all registered voters who need one.
3. Who gets a ballot, when & how?
State and county election boards should simply send ballots to all registered voters, as early as possible.
Early in-person voting must also be made easy in all states and counties. "Souls to the Polls" begins now.
The earlier ballots are available, the less likely there will be problems on November 3. Voters who get them early should be encouraged to walk (rather than mail) them into election boards as early as possible.
But some partisan legislators, secretaries of state, governors, etc., have contrived to first send a voters postcard ... then (maybe) an application ... then (maybe) a ballot. All must meet firm deadlines.
Such flimsy, complex, time-consuming procedures add (deliberately) to the risk of documents being lost in the mail, ignored at home, trashed at the election board, etc.
Election protectors in all states and counties need a thorough knowledge of what's going on with these procedures and how voters can be protected.
4. The military, diplomats, and other overseas Americans
The US military votes by mail, or electronically, often with reports that some officers may illegally intimidate soldiers into voting a certain way.
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