Three Basic Facts That Prove Local Officials Aren't Rigging Our Elections
Three Basic Facts That Prove Local Officials Aren't Rigging Our Elections
Election Integrity Series Pt. III
Things have gone from bad to worse for election officials. With harassment steadily on the rise since 2020, new reporting reveals nearly two dozen election offices recently received threatening packages—at least some from the group “United States Traitor Elimination Army.” Meanwhile, Trump’s threats to jail officials are disrupting their ability to do their jobs free from intimidation.
This is all as baseless as it is tragic. Like with voter registration and vote by mail, shining a light on a few facts about how elections really work can help calm any fears your neighbors or relatives might have about local officials stealing the election.
It’s Nearly Impossible to Rig a Voting Machine, Let Alone Hundreds of Them
Many lies about voting machines have been put to rest, with Fox News even having to pay one manufacturer $787 million for lying about its machines. Nonetheless, here are a few facts:
Almost 70% of us will vote on paper ballots in November, not on machines.
Even when paper ballots are counted by machines, officials conduct pre-election tests of the software to confirm machines are reading paper ballots correctly. Most states also conduct a post-election hand count of select precincts to triple-confirm accuracy. The pre-election test and post-election audit are open to the public.
For the federal government to certify a voting system for use in the U.S., it must be a closed system that doesn’t rely on Internet connectivity to operate.
Everything Election Officials Do, They Have To Do In Public
It’s not just the pre-election testing and post-election audit mentioned above that are open to the public. Every step of the election process is open to observers, including voters, the media, and campaign representatives.
This includes:
Watching voters show ID and sign in at polling places
Opening ballots and counting votes (including recounts, if any, and the post-election “canvass” where any errors are corrected)
All meetings where election rules and regulations are passed
All hearings where the validity of ballots is voted on
Make no mistake: campaigns are well aware of their observer rights, and they already send in thousands of “watchdogs.” If anyone was stealing an election, the campaigns would have actual evidence.
Everything Election Officials Write is Publicly Available
The Freedom of Information Act is a law that lets U.S. citizens request federal government records. Every state has a similar “open records law,” and election officials are bound by these laws.
This means every email, memo, report, and even every work-related text message an election official sends is a public record that any citizen can access simply by filing a request.
Simply put, there’s nowhere for officials to hide. There’s no way for officials to operate in secret. This is true for a single election official, let alone the hundreds conspiring together it would take to swing a national election.
This is obvious to many of us. To others who are partial to theories peddled by Trump and others, my hope is that some basic facts can help calm their fears. If you know someone who thinks the election is being stolen, please consider sharing these points with them.