Can We Trust Elections?
Working the polls and hearing the stories of the 2020 election, I feel very doubtful that our elections represent the voice of the citizens anymore, if they ever did. Computerization was supposed to make things more accurate; you feed in ballots and dispassionately, the computer counts them. But…it’s not that simple.
And yet, all we’ve had to date is anecdotal stories and where there is proof, it hasn’t seemed to be enough to change outcomes. And yet, doubt remains.
The Election Integrity Scorecard
Heritage Foundation decided to do something about it. They came up with the following metrics, and, working with state election officials and boards of elections, each state was scored with regards to how well they manage the vote.
Voter identification;
Maintaining the accuracy of a state’s voter registration list;
Rules governing absentee ballots;
Rules governing vote trafficking;
Access of election observers to ensure transparency;
Citizenship verification;
Voter assistance procedures;
Vote-counting practices;
Election litigation procedures;
10. Rules governing voter registration;
11. Restriction of automatic registration; and
12. Rules surrounding the private funding of elections.
Each of the 12 were given weighted scores, where the first three carried the most weight. The worst were most of the “blue states.” See the link to get individual scores. The most critical areas were ensuring the voter was who he/she said he was and having an accurate voter registration list. The most important, from a presidential election standpoint, are the swing states. In 2020, these were the states (followed by their score out of 100): Arizona (63), Colorado (51), Florida (78), Georgia (83), Iowa (70), Maine (52), Michigan (56), North Carolina (61), Ohio (62), Pennsylvania (63), Texas (76), and Wisconsin (74).
I was surprised by how high the scores were in these states. I had expected a lot worse scores. Sadly, states with a lot of electoral votes, such as California, didn’t do so well.
Still, it should concern all of us that no state got a higher score than 83. Don’t we deserve better? I have to hope that since this data was shared with and vetted by the state election officials that this will inspire change. But as we enter into the midterms this year, keep in mind that these scores tell you a lot about compliance to our current election rules.
If You See Something, Say Something
At the next election, if you vote in person, look around and see how well they manage your polling place. Do you see things that don’t look right? Are you working the polls? If more people report on what they are seeing, both to the election officials in their county and state and perhaps also to the media, perhaps we can apply the pressure of our voice toward an improved process.
We’ve all seen international elections where we know fraud has occurred (Iraq, Russia, China). But avoiding such rampant fraud isn’t enough. We need to feel our vote counts and that only citizens are casting ballots.
It’s time for a change.