Please critique my proposed policy to ensure an honest vote

[CrusaderFrank]

Without cheating democrat would be wiped down to 4, maybe 6 Senators and would lose like Mondale in every Presidential election

 

[Kondor3]

Without cheating democrat would be wiped down to 4, maybe 6 Senators and would lose like Mondale in every Presidential election

You are delusional. Much like the Orange Albatross hanging-about the GOP's collective neck at the moment.

 

[Lisa558]

If you are talking about ballots in Pennsylvania that were mailed in by voters without their secrecy envelopes, you can be comforted. After the primaries, where they were counted, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled in response to lawsuits from Trump and the RNC that mailed in ballots that lacked their secrecy envelopes would not be counted in the general election and they were not. That disenfranchised roughly 100,000 Pennsylvania mail-in voters and as we all know, that decision hurt Democrats more than Republicans which was the actual reason Trump and the RNC brought those suits. No one ever presented any evidence of widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania, real or attempted, before or after the election. The purpose of secrecy envelopes are to provide a physical separation between a voter's identifying information and the actual votes cast when votes were counted in public polling locations. You may recall that voting is supposed to be secret. No one is supposed to know how any specific person voted. Ballots using secrecy envelopes have to be separated from identifying information but that is done AFTER the voter's identities are validated. In modern systems, ballots are counted electronically or optically in centralized secure locations and the ballots remain anonymous due simply to the isolation and speed with which they are processed.

The loss of confidence of some citizens in the integrity of our voting system is almost ENTIRELY due to the lies and falsehoods put out by Donald Trump and his proxies before and after the election. There was no widespread voter fraud anywhere in the nation and Trump undertook his Big Lie campaign to enable his attempted overthrow of the vote in case it should turn out as he was repeatedly informed it would, with the election of Joe Biden.

“Some” citizens lost confidence in the integrity of the election? Try 2/3rds of Republican voters and another 1/3rd of Independents. That’s 60 million Americans!

And we didn’t trust the election until Trump said differently. When I woke up the next morning and heard that 5 (!!) swing states, where Trump had been in the lead, ALL halted the count, at the same time, and when the count resumed, Biden had taken over, I suspected right there that Democrats had pulled off some major fraud, and sure enough, as the details emerged, it became obvious it was true.

What Trump said about it CONFIRMED our suspicions. And now you anti-American leftists, in an attempt to silence opposing voices, have ramped up your screeches about traitors and racists even more on those who won’t submit the leftism.

The BIG LIE is that Biden is the president.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Without cheating democrat would be wiped down to 4, maybe 6 Senators and would lose like Mondale in every Presidential election

I fear that there are more insane government school grads than are in that calculation.

 

[Independentthinker]

Decades ago there was cheating and hanky panky in elections, but never did we have an electorate as suspicious and convinced of malfeasance or as fearful that elections can be stolen as we have now. Without faith that elections are fair and honest, it is unlikely that our constitutional republic will survive.

So I propose what I believe is a system/policy that, if implemented, will ensure roughly 99.9% honest and fair elections. Do you agree? If not please state your reason why it would be bad policy.

PHOTO ID:
Any person who is unable to secure a certified Driver's License w/photo or other valid photo ID may provide proof of citizenship and residence and apply for a free photo ID in the city or county where the person resides.

REGISTRATION:
All U.S. citizens who are not felons and who are sufficiently mentally competent to register to vote via their own intentional effort should go to the city or county clerk's office where they reside and:
1. Provide certified photo ID, proof of citizenship, proof of home residency, proof of age.
2. Anyone who moves out of his/her precinct must re-register in order to be allowed to vote.
3. Voter registration must be done 2 to 6 weeks prior to the election so that the person can be added to the official voter rolls.
4. Any person not voting in either the primary or general election in any given election year will be dropped from the voter rolls and must re-register to vote.
5. Some provision will be made for those who otherwise qualify but cannot physically go to the city or county clerk's office to register but the registration must be taken by a person with the city or county clerk's office.
5. Anyone falsifying his/her voter registration or knowingly accepting or creating fake registrations is subject to prosecution for a felony offense and, if convicted, will be subject to fine and/or imprisonment.

ELECTIONS:
1. All persons physically able must go to the polls in their assigned precinct personally and present positive certified photo ID and certify under oath that they live at the address shown on their voter registration. Early voting if allowed in any state may not exceed ten days prior to election day and must include all safeguards in place on election day.
2. Those who must or need to vote absentee will apply for an absentee ballot with a signed and notarized application.
3. The completed absentee ballot must be delivered to the precinct polling location no later than the close of the polls on election day. No ballots will be accepted from any source after the polls close. Every absentee ballot should be able to be matched with a notarized application for the ballot. No person having been issued an absentee ballot may vote by any means other than that absentee ballot.
4. Anyone voting in somebody else's name or hindering the timely delivery of absentee ballots to the polling place or discouraging or hindering people's ability to get to the polls will be subject to prosecution for a felony with penalties fines and/or imprisonment.
5. Only properly registered persons living within the United States and/or its territories are eligible to vote.

COUNTING THE VOTE:
1. All interested parties must be allowed to have representatives present and able to observe the counting process. Those representatives must be allowed to remain until the counting is completed and will be given a certified document verifying what the final count is.
2. All ballots will be via paper ballots and hand counted. Counting will continue without interruption, even if people have to be replaced, until all ballots are counted and the results provided to the city or county officials as well as to the poll watchers.

Recognizing that for every rule, there can be necessary exceptions for truly valid reasons such as natural disasters or whatever, the above should insure that never again will any person have to wonder whether an election was stolen.

Your problem with the left is, they don't want any rules or restrictions. They want voting so easy that no one has to follow any rules. Rules suppress votes.

 

[Lisa558]

Your problem with the left is, they don't want any rules or restrictions. They want voting so easy that no one has to follow any rules. Rules suppress votes.

They don’t want rules or laws, period. That’s why you see them dropping bail and putting criminals back on the street. They aim for chaos.

 

[scruffy]

No... it's entirely accurate and truthful... and, by way of counterpoint, your continued defense of your Orange Albatross is the biggest part of the problem.

Oh shut up, you idiot mudslinging fucktard.

You won't be allowed to participate in the solution either.

 

[scruffy]

Not if they are certified by city or county personnel. And my policy suggests that signatures on requests for absentee ballots or on absentee ballots or the official envelopes be notarized as the notary would check the person's photo ID. A certified photo ID is not fool proof but goes a long way to ensure that the person voting is who they say they are and are properly registered and therefore authorized to vote. And if the envelope is signed and not the actual ballot, the envelope should be stapled to the ballot and stay with the ballot.

Well, you're touching on another issue, which actually becomes the main issue.

You're alluding to the forensic audit - analysis after the fact.

The key concept is "chain of custody". Just like for evidence in a court of law.

When police recover some evidence, thereafter, anyone who touches it or does anything to it is logged. We need the same thing with the vote. If I come to you and say "Joe Blow cheated, he voted twice", we need to be able to find out for sure, whether it was Joe who actually voted, or whether it was one of the election workers masquerading as Joe, or whether it was some unknown third party.

 

[Foxfyre]

That's still 'someone said so'. What evidence did they have that the names on the roll were their deceased husbands?
Were the names matched on the roll with an address or some other identifying information? Why were they still on the roll?

They were still on the roll because in blue states, the voter rolls aren't purged. They were still on the roll because they had recently died. That part was quite easy to verify.

 

[Foxfyre]

Please everybody who actually is interested in the topic. Please do not respond to the silly mudslingers and don't get drawn into a food fight they deliberately try to create in order to derail the thread.

 

[Foxfyre]

Without cheating democrat would be wiped down to 4, maybe 6 Senators and would lose like Mondale in every Presidential election

Maybe. Or maybe not. While Clinton never got a majority of the vote, I don't think his elections were fraudulent. McCain was such a boring and for many unattractive candidate, and Sarah Palin's inexperience didn't help him, I am pretty sure Obama won fair and square. There may have been some hanky panky in the 2016 election, but I am confident Trump won. But I do believe there are enough unscrupulous political operatives to deliberately cheat and do so now and I want a system that makes it exceedingly difficult for them to do so.

The only people who would object to such a system has to be people want them to be able to cheat.

 

[bripat9643]

Thank you. I value your opinion.

I proposed a limit of 7 days prior to the election for early voting if a state allows it at all. I didn't put any restrictions on who is eligible for an absentee ballot other than they must show proof of who they are when they apply for one and return one. The more stringent policy was to register to vote. We need much stronger regulation on that than what is the current situation.

Just make election day a holiday and make everyone vote on the same day.

 

[Foxfyre]

Well, you're touching on another issue, which actually becomes the main issue.

You're alluding to the forensic audit - analysis after the fact.

The key concept is "chain of custody". Just like for evidence in a court of law.

When police recover some evidence, thereafter, anyone who touches it or does anything to it is logged. We need the same thing with the vote. If I come to you and say "Joe Blow cheated, he voted twice", we need to be able to find out for sure, whether it was Joe who actually voted, or whether it was one of the election workers masquerading as Joe, or whether it was some unknown third party.

Yes. I should have included 'chain of custody' in my proposed policy. Thanks for bringing that up.

 

[scruffy]

Your problem with the left is, they don't want any rules or restrictions. They want voting so easy that no one has to follow any rules. Rules suppress votes.

So we use the bank card model. That's easy, we can start there. Anyone can get a debit card. Easy peasy.

 

[Foxfyre]

Just make election day a holiday and make everyone vote on the same day.

I don't think making election day a holiday is necessary, but voting in person is strongly preferable to a mail in ballot system. Maybe a strong suggestion to allow folks working 12 hour shifts a reasonable time off to vote during the work day but polls opening at 7 and closing at 7 and also a week of early voting pretty much gives everybody who is motivated to vote time to do so.

 

[Foxfyre]

So we use the bank card model. That's easy, we can start there. Anyone can get a debit card. Easy peasy.

I think the problem is as much in the registration process as it is in voting. Ensuring that only eligible citizens can register and be put on the rolls is as important as voter ID to ensure that only those who are who they say they are can vote. This business of voter registration drives where everybody and anybody is signed up or those with driver's licenses automatically being added to the voter rolls, especially in those states that give drivers licenses to illegals, is a problem. In New Mexico a 'real ID' is issued to citizens and requires not only a certified birth certificate, but for us women marriage and/or divorce certificates, proof of residency and other ID, i.e. absolute proof of residency and that we are who we say we are is required. Aliens get a different drivers license that technically doesn't allow them to fly or vote or whatever, but I'm pretty sure some do anyway.

But we should be as careful to verify the identify of those who register to vote as we are in who gets a 'real ID.'

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

So your solution to a non existent problem which has been manufactured by one side to suppress the vote, is to help suppress the vote...
No one has proven any thing close to mass voter fraud in an election...

I think you also forget one thing,

You have a right to vote....
That is in the constitution. You need a reason to take away that right and inventing a false problem doesn't count.

We know why GOP want it:

Trump says Republicans would âneverâ be elected again if it was easier to vote

President dismissed Democratic-led push for voter reforms amid coronavirus pandemic during Fox & Friends appearance

www.theguardian.com

But it is a right...

Here are just one example of how disgusting your suggestions are here: "sufficiently mentally competent ". Who judges that... Many people on this forum have stated if you vote Democrats you are not sufficiently mentally competent. How does that work?

Where in the constitution does it claim that you can loose your right to vote if you don't participate? Let's be very clear the people who tried to suppress the vote in Selma... Please know a bit of history, know how people have had there vote suppressed and taken away from them in the past...
Please don't say this is a thing of the past... The people of Florida voted overwhelming to give past felons the right to vote... The GOP spent there time doing the most they can to stop those people being allowed to vote... This is today...


So your suggestions are pretty disgusting IMHO... They are to restrict voting not expand it... Where are the mandatory minimum voting places so everyone can vote especially in urban areas... Voting in other countries takes minutes, no queues, quick and easy... Mail in voting is popular highest democracies around the world.

GOP doesn't like loosing and instead of actually coming up with policies that the people want they want to corrupt democracy. Shame on you helping them

If a simple ID can suppress someone they don't deserve to vote. Truly a stupid excuse. Stop being fucking lazy.

As to the op, as long as the party of liars & cheats remain in power this will never happen nationally

 

[bripat9643]

I don't think making election day a holiday is necessary, but voting in person is strongly preferable to a mail in ballot system. Maybe a strong suggestion to allow folks working 12 hour shifts a reasonable time off to vote during the work day but polls opening at 7 and closing at 7 and also a week of early voting pretty much gives everybody who is motivated to vote time to do so.

Voting over an extended period of time is a problem. People who vote early my do so before information pertinent to the campaign becomes public, like Hunter's laptop

 

[candycorn]

Decades ago there was cheating and hanky panky in elections, but never did we have an electorate as suspicious and convinced of malfeasance or as fearful that elections can be stolen as we have now. Without faith that elections are fair and honest, it is unlikely that our constitutional republic will survive.

So I propose what I believe is a system/policy that, if implemented, will ensure roughly 99.9% honest and fair elections. Do you agree? If not please state your reason why it would be bad policy.

PHOTO ID:
Any person who is unable to secure a certified Driver's License w/photo or other valid photo ID may provide proof of citizenship and residence and apply for a free photo ID in the city or county where the person resides.

REGISTRATION:
All U.S. citizens who are not felons and who are sufficiently mentally competent to register to vote via their own intentional effort should go to the city or county clerk's office where they reside and:
1. Provide certified photo ID, proof of citizenship, proof of home residency, proof of age.
2. Anyone who moves out of his/her precinct must re-register in order to be allowed to vote.
3. Voter registration must be done 2 to 6 weeks prior to the election so that the person can be added to the official voter rolls.
4. Any person not voting in either the primary or general election in any given election year will be dropped from the voter rolls and must re-register to vote.
5. Some provision will be made for those who otherwise qualify but cannot physically go to the city or county clerk's office to register but the registration must be taken by a person with the city or county clerk's office.
5. Anyone falsifying his/her voter registration or knowingly accepting or creating fake registrations is subject to prosecution for a felony offense and, if convicted, will be subject to fine and/or imprisonment.

ELECTIONS:
1. All persons physically able must go to the polls in their assigned precinct personally and present positive certified photo ID and certify under oath that they live at the address shown on their voter registration. Early voting if allowed in any state may not exceed ten days prior to election day and must include all safeguards in place on election day.
2. Those who must or need to vote absentee will apply for an absentee ballot with a signed and notarized application.
3. The completed absentee ballot must be delivered to the precinct polling location no later than the close of the polls on election day. No ballots will be accepted from any source after the polls close. Every absentee ballot should be able to be matched with a notarized application for the ballot. No person having been issued an absentee ballot may vote by any means other than that absentee ballot.
4. Anyone voting in somebody else's name or hindering the timely delivery of absentee ballots to the polling place or discouraging or hindering people's ability to get to the polls will be subject to prosecution for a felony with penalties fines and/or imprisonment.
5. Only properly registered persons living within the United States and/or its territories are eligible to vote.

COUNTING THE VOTE:
1. All interested parties must be allowed to have representatives present and able to observe the counting process. Those representatives must be allowed to remain until the counting is completed and will be given a certified document verifying what the final count is.
2. All ballots will be via paper ballots and hand counted. Counting will continue without interruption, even if people have to be replaced, until all ballots are counted and the results provided to the city or county officials as well as to the poll watchers.

Recognizing that for every rule, there can be necessary exceptions for truly valid reasons such as natural disasters or whatever, the above should insure that never again will any person have to wonder whether an election was stolen.

1. All persons physically able must go to the polls in their assigned precinct personally and present positive certified photo ID and certify under oath that they live at the address shown on their voter registration.

Who decides what is "physically able"? What if you are sick with Covid and don't want to infect others? Are we going to get into doctor's notes? Do they have to be notarized and all that stuff?

Early voting if allowed in any state may not exceed ten days prior to election day and must include all safeguards in place on election day.

If allowed? Wow. Okay. Is the 10 days including weekends?

3. The completed absentee ballot must be delivered to the precinct polling location no later than the close of the polls on election day.

Well, for one thing, the polling place doesn't get absentee ballots, the county clerk usually does. For another thing, if the mail service doesn't deliver the ballot on time, why should that disenfranchise anyone? So this stipulation of yours would mean that Election Day for absentee balloting is about 10 days earlier than the actual Election Day.

Sidebar: Numerous sites have done nothing but mail in voting for years. Multiple election cycles. Nobody has ever questioned the legitimacy of their elections. Why are you questioning it now?

No ballots will be accepted from any source after the polls close.

See above...the postal service moves at it's pace.

1. All interested parties must be allowed to have representatives present and able to observe the counting process. Those representatives must be allowed to remain until the counting is completed and will be given a certified document verifying what the final count is.

Of all of the recommendations...this is the most ridiculous.

In November, the ballot will have dozens of candidates. At least 2 for most offices.
US House
US Senate
Governor
State Rep
State Senate
Railroad Commisioners
Secretaries of State
State Supreme Court
County Commissioners
County Judges
Judges
County Attornies
Sheriffs
State attorney generals....etc...

So if every one of these folks wants a representative to be at the polling place observing the vote counting--by hand--you're going to need a bigger boat. I recommend SoFi Stadium or something like that. You're going to have 40-50 observers standing there. Who decides who gets closest to the counter?

2. All ballots will be via paper ballots and hand counted.

And now you have all the votes being counted by hand. Harris County has like 4M people. You want one person to count that? Or do you want dozens of counters? So for every hand-count, you'll need an observer...right? 40 or 50 observers multiplied by how many counters.

Again....folks have been voting by mail in multiple states for a long time...every election. We've had voting by mail by the military of over a century.

No sizable voter fraud has ever occurred nor did it occur in 2020.
Not only are your ideas idiotic, they are not necessary.

 

[candycorn]

I am not speaking of any person's theory about anything. I am speaking of restoring the people's confidence in the election policies and process. You obviously don't want to do that so oh well.

The audits showed there was no sizable voter fraud.
Even Spanky said there was no sizable voter fraud. You obviously don't want to believe it. So oh well.