Plus: The Difference Between Mail In and Absentee Ballots
Does the Presidential Voting Date Act of 1845 require that only votes submitted to election officials by election day be used in election tabulations? It appears so.
In that case, the Justice Department should be notifying states that ballots received after election day should be discarded. There could be specific exceptions for ballots distributed later than required by Federal law which would mainly apply to citizens overseas – mostly military and their families.
The Trump campaign should take legal action to ensure that ballots collected after election day are not counted in any state. This will help prevent a disaster like what occurred in the latest New York State primary election.
Already, the Trump Campaign is challenging the mail in voting law recently enacted in Nevada that introduces mail in ballots to the state.
Many people think mail in ballots and absentee ballots are the same. They have many similarities, but are not the same. Both are mailed in which is a source of confusion.
An absentee ballot is requested by a registered voter from their local election authority. It is not sent out unless requested.
Mail in balloting is when the local election authority sends out ballots without the voter requesting a ballot. This means that people who are no longer legal residents of an area even though they are still registered will have a ballot mailed. There are ballots circulating that a registered voter did not request. Such ballots are an invitation to voter fraud. To be sure, there are some precautions against fraud by checking signatures, but the effectiveness of this at preventing fraud while simultaneously ensuring legitimate ballots are counted is questionable even under good conditions. When election judges are overwhelmed by an enormous number of signatures to verify, serious concerns about the accuracy of the election are raised.
In states that have not previously had successful mail in balloting, mail in ballots should be required to be turned in early to allow verification to be performed before election day. The envelope containing the ballot would have to remain sealed until confirmation that the person identified on the ballot did not vote in person or submit a duplicate mail in ballot. This will help reduce delays with counting the ballots.
It is also critical that no ballots be accepted after the polls close on election day. That way, there is better closure on the election and less chance for “manufacturing” ballots to change the election outcome. Any ballots received after the polls close should be kept separate from ballots returned on time. They should not be counted. Those ballots need to be marked as invalid to prevent them from being counted, but they may still be needed to check for duplicate ballots being submitted under the same name or attempts at fraud. For those dismissing election fraud as insignificant, I can assure you that an unscrupulous person dedicated to his candidate or ballot issue winning at any cost can easily commit voter fraud when late votes are accepted. I won’t outline the details of how to commit election fraud, but, with some hard work, some political connections, and a little cleverness, it can be done successfully with minimal chance of detection.
There must be adequate capacity to count the ballots on election day. Dragging out the counting more than one day is an invitation to fraud and mischief. It is rare that an election result from election day is legitimately changed by recounting votes. Recounting and extended time for counting provide too much opportunity for cheaters to try stealing elections.
If the election is not decided on election day, the legitimacy of the election will be cast into doubt. This will unnecessarily put the entire country under tremendous stress.
Given the current polarization in the country, such stress could even foment an actual civil war. State governments and election officials promoting a balloting system engineered to fail are inviting chaos and civil unrest. Because they are doing it deliberately, they are evil, unpatriotic people despite their claims of just virtuously trying to make voting easier and safer.
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