Some possible fixes for an election process we cannot trust to be honest or fair.

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How to avoid election manipulation and theft.

1. Always use paper ballots.

It is OK to use an electronic reader to tabulate the ballots provided the paper trail is retained for at least 5 years after the election.

2. Provide four-part ballot forms so the voter can retain two copies with the other two being counted.

The copy ballots should receive a stamp to certify that it is an official copy of the original ballot cast. Each must have a unique ID number printed on all copies. Two copies go with the voter. The other two are placed into separate locked boxes one of which goes to the official elections commissions for tabulation with the second box going to an independent auditor to tabulate for comparison.

The voter's copies allow them to retain one copy and have one available to mail in the event of a recount or to verify that their vote was properly recorded using the ID number on the ballot.

3. Provide the option for voters to identify themselves on their ballot if they choose to do so.

By offering the option to declare your votes openly, this lessens the chance that your vote is not counted because it becomes traceable. A secret ballot is a ballot no one can confirm or deny as being valid or of having the correct candidates marked as intended.

4. Elections must not, by law, be run by any partisan part of government.

Members of elections boards should be chosen by random drawing from a pool of qualified persons and should be seated only for the duration of the particular election. None may be employees of any government body or agency or affiliated with any candidate.

5. An independent auditing company shall be hired

By open bid process, a licensed auditing firm shall be hired to receive and tabulate the second copies of the ballots to be compared with those tabulated by the elections board. No person associated with the auditor may sit on the elections board.

6. Press to witness counts.

Any bona fide member of the press shall be permitted to witness any ballot count as shall any member of an organized "poll watch" group.

7. All handling and counting of ballots shall be video taped.

8. Require recount in close race.

Any election where one candidate prevailed by less than a certain percentage state wide, ( 3% ? ) shall, by law, require a recount to be conducted by a third auditing company retained by open bid for that purpose.

9. Set cut-off date to challenge any voter registration.

All voters registered to vote within 60 days of any election shall, thereafter, be presumed by law to be eligible to vote. Any challenges to a person's right to vote shall be barred after that cut off date.

10. No votes shall be discarded.

It shall be presumed that any vote cast on election day is a valid ballot unless specific fraud can be shown on the part of the voter. No ballot shall be discarded based on eligibility factors after the vote is cast.

11. Provisional ballots must be available at all polling places.

Should a voter's identity or eligibility be challenged on election day, that person shall be provided a provisional ballot to be cast pending a review of that person's status. Said ballot shall be counted as if it were as valid as any other ballot except that it shall be held separately from other ballots and identified as provisional.

Where there is a close election and where the numbers of provisional ballots cast would present a different outcome for any candidate, only then shall those be opened and audited at once, to determine validity of the voter prior to releasing election results.

Where the outcome is not at issue for any candidate, all provisional ballots shall be verified at a later date and the actual votes adjusted accordingly at that time, for the record. A letter of discrepancy with remedies shall be sent to any voter found to have not been eligible at the time the ballot was cast.

12. Voters must be able to verify their votes.

By use of the ID number printed on each ballot, any voter wishing to do so shall be able to access a web site to verify that his/her vote was recorded as intended, and shall have the option to report any error in the vote as recorded using their certified copy at proof of the error.

13. Contested elections shall require a run-off election.

Where for whatever reason, the outcome of any race cannot be determined by a re-count on the second try, a run-off election shall be held to determine the outcome for the political office in question.

14. Limit court intervention.

Courts should be limited in power to intervene in the election process except to the extent necessary to interpret specific laws related to the process. No court shall have the power to deny or require a recount or otherwise interfere in the process of validating the outcome of any election other than to uphold the statutes.

What is wrong with the above proposals?

It is wrong that we must now assume our elections process (and those who run them) is so broken and so untrustworthy that we should have to resort to such measures in order to assure a fair election.

Any other ideas? Anyone?

Authors Website: http://www.joethevoter.org

Authors Bio:
Political Activism is a passion but I have earned a living since 1995 through my web page design and hosting business. I also do graphics design and offer business cards, fliers, brochures etc. My most recent venture which can be seen at http://www.xtarusa.com is to solicit wholesale accounts for quality line of flash lights.

http://www.joethevoter.org

My collection of articles has since been compiled and is now for sale on Amazon.com Title "Mind of a Liberal" http://amzn.to/1cNWH4B