Beginning the year 2026 all states should be required to use paper ballots so we have a paper trail of all votes. It has been shown that all of the states that utilize the paper ballot system can easily have their ballots counted within hours and by the end of the Election Day. However the other states that utilize the multimillion dollar voting machines takes days and sometimes weeks to compile their totals. The drop boxes were brought into the voting system because of the pandemic and are no longer necessary. I see no reason to continue with using these to entice more corruption. And finally, when it comes to voting, we should treat as the special day that it is. Just as July 4th, a very patriotic day, it should be treated and honored as a holiday. Everyone can take the day off from work and make it to vote.
Though I agree with the premise and desirability of this post, I believe that elections are controlled by the states and not the federal government.
Many states have adopted the guidelines specified in the Help American Vote Act (HAVA). It would be good to update this Act with better guidelines that states could adopt.
I agree that getting rid of mail in ballots, electronic voting machines and ballot harvesting is critical in restoring faith in our election system. All states should be required to only have mail in ballots for those that genuinely cannot get to the polls. The reason that some of these states like AZ and CA are still counting ballots is because they are mail in ballots which they use as an excuse to say they have to “cure” them which takes longer. If everyone used a paper ballot on election day, they could easily be counted by the different precincts in one day. Entire countries, like France and Argentina do it in their elections. We can too. There should never be another election where ballots are being counted for day s and weeks. Its absurd.
We must be careful what we ask for because it can be weaponized easily. It may result in some states, like CA, splitting their elections, which will depress voter turnout. Depressed voter turnout is bad for America and almost always bad for the GOP. What we need is more uniformity and a bipartisan citizen federal commission to select the mechanism of the count in all federal election. Along with the commission should come criminal laws against the members from accepting money from anyone or taking jobs with connection to the companies or individuals who make the counters. I think we just be really careful about how our actions can be used against our policy goals when we lose an election, and we will lose elections.
The worst aspect is an election lasting months from the beginning to the end, because is a recipe for fraud. One day to vote, ballot to be counted, not the same day registration (limited to 30 days before the election day), show proper identification. We are a Constitutional Republic, so all states of the Union must to follow it. Also, this country is not mandatory to vote, period.
I love the thought. My question is, how do we keep people from burning the ballots in mailboxes? Some voters are immobile and can’t go out to vote. Any thoughts or suggestions?