We must insist on accessible, secure, verifiable, transparent elections!
President Donald Trump’s win was epic and decisive. The people voted based on their view of the last 4 years. The apparent result of this historic win is a Republican-controlled Presidency, Senate, and, as of today, most likely the House. This clear majority will make it easier for Trump to enact his ‘Make America Great Again’ agenda.
Curiously, the Democrats are united in their messaging that the election process “worked.” Thus far, they are not making claims that there was cheating. However, multiple sources we have spoken to argue that there was cheating, but it was thwarted. Trump likely had additional votes nationwide and won some of the blue states. The allegations are that electronic cheating was mitigated. They stopped the ‘steal’ this time, and the cheating on the ground via ballot dumps was moderated by legal action and increased monitoring by teams of observers.
Reports indicate that the election was not clean and certainly not without issues. There were concerns across the nation and our state of SC:
- Inaccurate voter registration lists resulted in either disenfranchised voters or people voting who were not lawfully allowed
- There were signs of ballot harvesting
- Voter IDs were not required nor uniformly requested
- Electronic poll books crashed and needed to be replaced or “updated” via the internet
- (BMD) Ballot Marking Device “glitches” and miscalibrations “flipped” candidates both on screen and post-printing of the ballot
- Sticky BMDs made it challenging to select a choice and resulted in voters having to take longer to type in selections
- Poll Observers and Poll watchers were not allowed adequate observation of the election process, audits, or testing and, in some cases, were thrown out of polling places and election offices
- There were long lines in early voting, and lines were being shut down early
- Counting was delayed for days in crucial battleground states
- Too many absentee and write-in ballots were issued, thus delaying the processing of the count
- Poor procedures were the norm for the hand count audits
- Most states have unreliable and inadequate logic and accuracy testing
- Ballot programming errors resulted in candidates missing from ballots or missing votes
- Poll workers harassed poll watchers and voters
- Poll workers advised voters how to vote and who to vote for—that is a felony in SC
- There were reports of abuse of curbside voting and the voters who were voting curbside
The above list is not exhaustive, but you get the point. Regardless of who won the elections, our system is in dire need of a redesign. As a nonpartisan group, we welcome anyone who has concerns about elections to come join the fight.
Complexity is the enemy of security. Simplifying our election system should be mandatory. HAVA, the Help America Vote Act, failed. It was a system designed to help the global elites “cheat at scale” for over 20 years. This federal law, along with the National Voter Registration Act, has to be dismantled, and our elections should return to the people. Elections are for the people by the people, and our governmental entities now in charge of elections must realize that they serve us, not the other way around.
Implementation of the Gold Standard for Elections will ensure that elections are secure, verifiable, accessible, and transparent.
Here is what the ideal Gold Standard Election system looks like:
- Voters register in person with a valid ID and citizenship status at least every 4 years; counties are in charge of keeping these records, which are paper
- 1 day of voting and minimal absentee and mail-in voting
- Each precinct must be maintained at 1,500 registrants or less
- Currently, there are too many exceptions given by our legislators
- There are no third parties or electronics involved in our elections
- Voting and counting takes place at the precinct and is completely transparent
- Absentee ballots for the precincts are also counted there. No CENTRAL COUNT
- All ballots are hand-marked on paper that has anti-theft measures
- The counting is entirely done by hand
- The counting is recorded in real-time and observed by the public
- All ballots are allowed to be viewed and captured on camera for replay to validate results
For all those who are concerned about this election, let’s audit the vote. We need to determine what happened in 2020, 2022 and 2024. Only massive transparency, viability, security, and accessibility will enable us to trust our elections again.
Next year, we will need your help to implore your legislators to enact these changes. Please stay connected to us and get involved in your local community. We can put you in touch with groups in your area.
Let’s do this!
The SC Safe Election Team