Category Updates

Bill 3444 prohibits drop boxes which is a good thing.  However, there is no procedure for drop boxes in the current Code of Laws for SC. They are already illegal, which is why counties that contested the boxes in 2020 were successful and were limited to locations at the county board of election offices. 

Section 7-5-50 of the bill states that “no county board of voter registration and elections may accept or expend any funds other than public funds to prepare for or to conduct elections.” No outside involvement by for profit or nonprofit corporations should be involved in our state elections.  The county board of elections as well as the State Election Commission should not be allowed access to any outside funding.

Bill 3444 is problematic in that it centralizes more control at the state level.  which leaves our state elections more vulnerable to partisan control.  (NOTE: the Governor appoints ALL members of the SEC…with the caveat that one appointee needs to be a member of the majority party in the General Assembly and the other from the minority party…otherwise the Governor picks whoever he wants – and he also appoints the Chairman of the SEC. These officials who run our elections are NOT elected.)  Decentralization is important here because it mitigates the dangers of centralized control, allowing counties to make decision that best reflect their constituencies. In other words, with this bill’s passage, counties would no longer be able to make the decision to dump the machines! In the same vein, this bill ABOLISHES the municipal election commissions, a further effort to centralize control upwards.

A fundamental conservative tenet is that decentralization is more optimal in that it tends to foster innovation. Centralization of the functions of government only allows for more concentrated control and power which gives the people less confidence in their election system.  This is the main tenet of why the democrats are pushing H.R. 1. They want total control of elections under the guise of enhanced quality control.  To that point, our own election commission should not be responsible for auditing themselves. Perhaps this role should be relegated to the Secretary of State.  

There are some hidden aspects of this bill which are also problematic. Why should the Speaker of the House and Senate President be able to intervene in any federal or state legal case involving an election law…or the way an election is carried out?

Bill 4919 says that it limits reasons for absentee voting but it extends in person voting to 2 weeks (in person voting to be one day and was only expanded last year due to COVID). It also doesn’t substantially limit the categories of who can request mail-in absentee ballots. As of this writing, they include: members of the American Red Cross, armed forces, government workers, students (as well as their spouses and dependents) and people age 65 and older, among others. Does this seem like a restriction in absentee ballots?  The only limit appears to be people who are on vacation and absent on election day. Absentee ballots are a huge source of potential malfeasance and should be limited only to people or active military out of the country or the severely ill or disabled. 

This bill also requires witness signatures and the last digits of the voter’s SS# but most likely due to time constraints these ballots are checked very quickly or not at all.

Overall, the election reform bills (4919 and 3444) (are moving in the wrong direction. I hope that the senate can bring themselves to amend them substantially or stick with our current system and enforce the laws on the books. We need to move forward, not backward.  If our governor and legislature was serious about election reform these bills would reinstate ONE day of voting, severely limit reasons for absentee balloting, get rid of the machines and go to paper ballots as well as have enhanced voter roll maintenance procedures,  including the elimination of our reliance on ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center).   .  

Here are some videos from our event that have been clipped from our main presentation. Enjoy. Here is also a link to our Rumble channel.

Below are some videos from our reveal.

The Cast Vote Record is a great way to determine how the ratio of votes between candidates trends in real time.  Draza Smith has done some compelling analysis on these records to show some irregularities that are concerning.  Our state of SC has blocked citizens from acquiring these records due to an opinion letter from the AG’s office prior to the 2020 election.  The opinion states a concern that “individual voters’ cast ballots could be identified in violation of Article II, § 1, if cast ballots are subject to public inspection.” They also state that it would “fail to protect the secrecy of every vote cast.”

This argument is spurious however and suggests that they don’t understand the format of this common report. The request seems to assume that the public would be privy to the actual scanned image of the ballot which is not what the standard Cast Vote Record provides. We have samples of the report headers and in no way does it provide any Personally Identifiable Information.

In order for our elections to be transparent and honest it is essential that we the people have access to key data points. The Cast Vote Record is a way for us to see trends in tabulation that may look awry as Draza Smith has demonstrated. It does not in any way encroach on the secrecy of any voter.

It is essential that we have more information not less if we are going to trust our election process and our election commission should be willing to work with us to ensure that confidence is instilled in the process.

We the People would like to monitor our elections to ensure that they are safe, transparent and honest. In order to do so, it is important to get the voter roll data pre and post election. The South Carolina Election Commission charges $2500 a pop for the rolls but if you compare that number to what other states are paying it seems exorbitant.

In fact, 41 states charge less than $2500. Eleven states charge no fee for access and 20 charge a fee of $500 or less.

Our state needs to reconsider the cost of election transparency.

Here is a video of Jeff O’ Donnell’s presentation of his analysis of the South Carolina voter rolls. There were many issues he uncovered. For example, dates of registration prior to birth, unusual spikes in registrations and inconsistent numbering of registration numbers. This is a must watch!

Now more than ever it is important to educate everyone about the election process. Our group is going to be conducting voter outreach sessions across the state for precincts, home owners’ associations, clubs etc. If you are interested in one of our team members coming to your area and talking about action steps you can take as well as perhaps even checking if your vote was accurate in our database contact us at scsafeelections@zohomail.com

Some of our group members spoke at the SC Election Excellence forum and were joined by election experts to discuss how we can keep our elections safe, honest, transparent and ACCURATE.

Below is the full video.  Phil Waldron spoke about how we can use paper ballots in lieu of machines to add verifiability to the process. Steve Hertzenberg provided a history of voting issues and his recommendations for fixing the problems.  Guest Speaker Lara Logan discussed the state of our nation and the grim implications.  It was a very information and enlightening day. (Speakers start at about the 50 minute mark).

Team members Laura and Cryste presented at the Charleston GOP on 3-14-22 do discuss our analysis of the SC ES&S system issues and canvass results.

Last week we had a few wins on the election reform front.  Nye county decided to use paper ballots for their upcoming elections.  This was a great win for the state of Nevada and hopefully other counties will follow suit.  Thanks to the team of experts that were able to present to them and convince them to go this route.  Many of them will be speaking at the March 26^th Election Excellence Forum.  

Last week the infamous Halderman affidavit was released. This 24-page paper documents the vulnerability of the machines and how malicious software was launched in the Ballot marking devices that provided temporary access to the machines. He also discussed how the QR codes on the paper ballots can be manipulated.  Access could be gained through modems, Windows, the poll pads and all traces of the malware can be erased so that no one could detect its existence. This is a must read to get up to speed on how the systems can be encroached. Hopefully we will move further in our understanding of the vulnerability of these systems and how we can prevent this from happening.

Read the entire report here: