Resolution To Ensure Election Integrity | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Introduction

    The Constitution established the United States as a democratic republic. It is democratic because the people govern themselves, and it is a republic because the government's power is derived from its people. This means that our governments - federal, state, and local - are elected by the citizens. Citizens vote for their government officials and these officials represent the concerns and ideas of the citizens in government. That is, in an ideal world, that is how it should work; it is certainly the system which our Founding Fathers envisioned for us.

    Voting is one important way that we can participate in our democracy. In order to vote for President in a federal election, a citizen must be 18 or older and abide by neutral voting laws that ensure that voting is fair, honest, and transparent, and holds true to the constitutional principle of "One Person, One Vote" (which means that every single citizen has an equal say in state and local elections, as well as of our nation's president.

    Besides voting for officials, citizens also have the ability and right to vote on issues. Voters may want to make changes to their community, such as building bigger schools or adding new roads. And we may be upset, angered, or frustrated at the actions of certain government officials (again, local, state, and federal) and so we have the right and freedom to contact them.

    Voting in an election and contacting our elected officials are two ways that Americans can participate in our democracy.

    Sadly, and unfortunately, election fraud is real.


    We know this all too well. It was shown that John F. Kennedy could not have defeated Richard Nixon in the presidential election of 1960 if it weren't for the "systematic fraud" in key states won by Kennedy, particularly in Illinois and his running-mate's (Lyndon B Johnson) home state of Texas. When I chose to look into the story, I expected the stories to be apocryphal with little solid evidence to back them. After an investigation and an almost-forensic look at the votes cast in Illinois, it can be said that Illinois was certainly stolen and that although the results in Texas were never properly investigated, the election results from that state were highly suspicious.

    We know it again all too well with the 2020 presidential election.

    Elections have consequences. We saw, in 2016 (through 2020) how the consequences could have very favorable consequences for our country and then with the so-celled election of Joe Biden in 2020 and his taking office the following January, we saw how the consequences can have dire consequences for Americans and for the safety, security, and prestige of the United States.

    The Heritage Foundation's Election Fraud Database, which has chronicled more than 1,300 cases of election fraud, proves that election fraud does occur in American elections. Errors and omissions by election officials and careless, shoddy election practices and procedures or lack of training can also cause and have caused problems for voters and candidates alike.


    But it doesn't have to be this way. States can, and should, take action to restore integrity to our elections.

    WHEREAS, the John Locke Foundation and The Heritage Foundation advocate that election reform must occur in two ways: First, States should nullify any federal act of Congress or federal court decision that infringes on the state legislators exclusive right to make rules regarding presidential elections, and second, States need real election reform, enacted by their legislatures, that must include:

    An Ideal System of Voting Should Include:

    (1) A single day for voting, Election Day, which the federal government should establish as a national holiday. Should the federal government refuse to do so, the state governments should establish "Election Day" as a state holiday. This way, individuals don't have to worry about finding time to vote with their work schedules and they also will have plenty of time to plan to get out to vote.

    (2) No early voting; no Saturday voting and no Sunday voting. (Churches are always free to use their buses and vans to help the elderly get to polling locations.

    (3) Paper ballots only. This way, there is no electronic hacking, no software manipulations, no computer irregularities, no ballot-counting manipulations, etc.

    (4) Verification of the citizenship of voters. Only lawful citizens can vote in federal elections. States should, therefore, require proof of citizenship to register to vote, as well as verify the citizenship of registered voters with the records of the Department of Homeland Security, including access to the E-Verify system.

    (5) A Strict Voter ID requirement. (A picture ID will prove the identify of the voter as well as his or her address). A voter should be required to validate his or her identity with government-issued photo ID to vote in-person or by absentee ballot (as states such as Alabama and Kansas require). Government-issued IDs should be free for those who cannot afford one.

    Voter ID is a neutral requirement that is applied universally and neutrally (See the remarks below from Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson).

    (6) The elimination of "Same-Day" voter registration.

    (7) Limitation of Absentee ballots (perhaps one of the greatest sources of election and voter fraud). Absentee ballots should be reserved for those individuals who are too disabled to vote in person, are being hospitalized, or who will be out of town on Election Day.

    (8) A requirement that absentee ballots must be notarized.

    (9) A state requirement that ensures the accuracy of voter registration lists. Computerized statewide voter-registration lists should be designed to be interoperable so that they can communicate seamlessly with other state record databases to allow frequent exchanges and comparisons of information. [For example, when an individual changes the residence address on his or her driver's license, that information should be sent to state election officials so that the voter-registration address of the individual is also changed to his or her new Department of Motor Vehicles residence address]. Voter registration lists should be updated and verified in a timely manner, to remove the names of those who have died, moved, or been sentenced as felons, to ensure accuracy and validity and help eliminate voter fraud.

    (10) A federal or state law prohibiting and thus preventing vote trafficking. Vote-trafficking (also called "vote harvesting") by third parties should be banned. That would ensure that candidates, campaign staffers, party activists, and political consultants are prohibited from picking up and potentially mishandling or changing absentee ballots and pressuring or coercing vulnerable voters in their homes. In other words, a political group can't offer to pick up ballots and then bring them to the polling place and/or mail them, with no third party supervising that group's behavior in the interim.

    (11) A provision that allow election observers complete access to the election process. Because transparency is absolutely essential to a fair and secure system, political parties, candidates, and third-party organizations should all be allowed to have observers in every aspect of the election process. The only limitation on such observers would be that they cannot interfere with the voting and counting process.

    (12) A requirement that a representative of the election office (local Board of Elections) be present or otherwise available to answer the questions of the observers. By law, they should be allowed to be in a position to observe everything going on, other than the actual voting by individuals. (Additionally, election officials should be prohibited from stationing observers so far away that they cannot observe the process, including such procedures as the opening of absentee ballots and the verification process).

    (13) A provision that permits voting assistance. Any individual providing assistance to a voter in a voting booth because the voter is illiterate, disabled, or otherwise requires assistance should be required to complete a form, to be filed with poll election officials, providing their name, address, contact information, and the reason they are providing assistance. They should also be required to provide a photo ID.


    (14) A prohibition on early vote counting. To avoid premature release of election results, the counting of ballots, including absentee and early votes, should not begin until the polls close at the end of Election Day. However, if a state insists on beginning the count before Election Day, it should ban the release of results until the evening of Election Day, subject to criminal penalties.

    (15) A requirement that ALL votes are counted and reported at the precinct level.

    (16) A law that provides the state legislature with legal standing. State legislatures must ensure that they have legal standing-either through a specific state law or through a constitutional amendment if that is required-to sue other state officials, such as governors or secretaries of state, who make or attempt to make unauthorized changes in state election laws. [For example, if a secretary of state extends the deadline set by state law for the receipt of absentee ballots, legislatures should have legal standing to contest that unilateral change that overrides state law. They should be classified as a necessary party in any lawsuit. And voters should be provided by state law with the ability to file a writ of mandamus against any state or local official who fails to abide by, or enforce, a state election-law requirement. And per another example, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, in 2020, made changes to election law unilaterally]. We must ensure that such unilateral or otherwise "shady" practices can't happen again in other states or in future elections.

    (17) A state requirement that the election process be audited (by non-partisan auditors) and that a post-election audit be conducted (also by non-partisan state auditors) to ensure the public has confidence in the election process and the integrity of the election results.

    (18) A requirement that only the state legislature may change standards of what votes are valid, in order that the same standard is applied statewide.

    (19) Easy and equal access to the ballot box.

    (20) An acknowledgment by the state legislature or state Board of Elections and by local Boards of Election that the State has the authority, under the Tenth Amendment, to nullify all federally-mandated election laws.

    (21) A process and procedure for voters, who suspect fraud and other election illegality, to contest the election results in their precinct (in their county, and in their state) and demand a recount, an audit (regular or forensic), or a special election with all possibility means of scrutiny in place. [Texas has such a provision].

    (22) A provision that punishes a political party should it be found to be at the center of any election fraud (thus requiring a recount, an audit, or special election) to include that party being responsible for the costs of such recount, audit, or special election. Such costs should not have to be borne by the law-abiding taxpayers.


    Mexico has had a long history of election fraud. Partly because its leaders were concerned about a drop in foreign investment if it wasn't perceived to be a legitimate democracy, Mexico recently instituted strict election reforms. Voters must present a biometric ID - an ID with not only a photo, but also a thumb print. Voters also have indelible ink applied to their thumbs, preventing them from voting more than once. And absentee voting is prohibited, even for people living outside the country.

    Those who oppose election integrity reforms here in the U.S. often condemn it as a means of "voter suppression." But in Mexico, the percentage of people voting rose from 59% before the reforms to 68% after. It turned out that Mexicans were more, not less, likely to vote when they had confidence that their votes mattered.