My proposal to fix the US voting process, I propose the following:
- Paper ballots only - no more use of machines
- Valid ID that proves US Citizenship must be provided to vote.
- Election day is an official federal holiday
- All voting will be done on election day. Exceptions are limited to scenarios such as disability, serving in the US military, etc.
- No drop off boxes. Ballots for those with exceptions can either be dropped off at the polling location or the office of the registrar of voters for their county.
- The polls will be open the entire day 12a-11:59p. This allows everyone, even those that still have to vote, time to actually show up and vote.
- All ballots will have an initial counting done at the voting location by at least two individuals. Poll watchers are allowed. Consider having video & audio streaming of the counts. The results will be captured before leaving the polling location.
- After leaving the poll location, a count will be done at the central counting location (matching counting OK( and the results will be compared to the poll location hand count. If they match fine, if they differ this will trigger a hand count Which will be compared to the poll count and the machine counts. All of this will be done with poll watchers viewing the entire process. I would also like to see all of this process streaming with audio and video so that the process is completely transparent.
- At the end of the process, the counts from each polling location and the overall numbers are compared to ensure accuracy and integrity.
- All states need to have all ballots counted 12 hours after polls close so noon the day after election day, the counts need to be finalized.
- The registrar of voters must certify the election results. Their certification should be treated exactly the same as an officer of a company that signs off on SOX certifications. This means if malfeasance or other shenanigans are found, they open themselves up personally to civil and criminal prosecution.
- The voter rolls of all states will be updated annually to remove deceased voters, ineligible voters, and voters that have subsequently registered in another state.