Ben Schumin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/legalcode

In Defense of Electoral Integrity: Public Scrutiny Deters ‘Rigging’

Donald Trump’s incessant bleats about how the 2016 election is “rigged” are having their desired effect: According to a national public opinion poll published earlier this week, fewer Americans than ever have confidence in the integrity of the electoral system.

The 2016 American Values Survey of 2,010 voters was conducted by PRRI from September 1 through September 27. Among its findings:

Fewer than half (43%) of the public say they have a great deal of confidence that their vote will be counted accurately. Roughly four in ten (38%) Americans report having only some confidence, while close to one in five (17%) say they have little confidence their vote will be accurately counted. There are stark differences among likely voters, with 70% of Clinton supporters—but only 41% of Trump supporters—reporting a great deal of confidence their votes will be counted accurately.

Let me tell you, there is no reason to distrust the integrity of the electoral system. Elections in this country are sufficiently transparent that fraud is unlikely to occur and, when it does occur, it is detected almost immediately.

In Virginia, every stage of the electoral process is designed to be open to scrutiny by the public and the press.

This week and next, Electoral Boards around the Commonwealth are testing their voting equipment and locking it down in anticipation of Election Day. These logic and accuracy (“L&A”) tests aim to assure both election officials and voters that the machines are accurately counting the votes as ballots are cast. Locking up the equipment assures that outsiders cannot gain access to the machines and tamper with them. The L&A and lockdown processes are official meetings of the Electoral Board and are therefore open to the public to observe. Invitations to observe are routinely sent to unit committee chairs of the political parties and to the local news media, but any member of the public is able to attend. Call your voter registrar to find out more.

On Election Day itself, the polling places are staffed by Officers of Election who are drawn from both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as independents. The law requires that the officers must be equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, or as close to that ratio as practicable. If the Chief Officer of Election is a Republican, then the Assistant Chief is a Democrat, and vice versa.

Johnson Precinct Charlottesville Vote HereIn the polling place, the law mandates that space must be made available for representatives of the political parties and of every candidate on the ballot to observe the voting process. In most cases, this means the observers will be seated behind the table where the pollbook (“Registered Voters List,” or RVL) is and where voters check in and provide their IDs, stating their names and addresses loudly enough for the election officials and observers to hear. In most instances, the party representatives note the names of those who have voted and report back to local headquarters so that people who have not yet voted can be contacted by GOTV volunteers and urged to go to the polls. But these observers also are able to challenge ineligible voters: “You say you are John Smith, but I know John Smith is in the hospital.” There is an official form available to challenge voters. It is rarely used but it exists.

While what I have described applies mostly to the physical precincts on Election Day, where voters walk in to cast their ballots, you should know that even the Central Absentee Precinct (CAP), where absentee ballots cast in the 45 days leading up to November 8, is open to observers authorized by the political parties and candidates.

These party and candidate representatives may also remain in the precinct after the polls are closed and observe the tallying of the votes, the preparation of the statement of results, and the breaking down of equipment. When the memory device is retrieved from voting machines and taken back to the central elections office, observers are offered the opportunity to sign the form that confirms the chain of custody.  Literally everything that happens throughout every step of the process is observed, not only by multiple election officials or Electoral Board members, but also by representatives of the candidates and parties.

Following the election, there is a canvass of votes that lasts for three days or more. All vote totals announced on Election Night are “unofficial results” and subject to change. The canvass is a tedious process, conducted by Electoral Boards, in which every ballot – voted, unvoted, spoiled, or voided – is accounted for. The Board makes sure that there were no more ballots counted than the number of voters who were checked in. It confirms the results announced on Election Night and considers provisional ballots, counting those that are deemed eligible and setting aside those that are not. Voters who failed to bring photo IDs to the polls and had to cast a provisional ballot because of that are allowed to bring an ID to the Electoral Board as late as noon on the Friday after the election in order to have their ballots counted.

Like the pre-election testing and lockdown, the canvass is an official meeting of the Electoral Board and it is open to the public, space permitting. Representatives of the political parties and any candidates on the ballot are able to observe the process. In a close election – like the Fifth Congressional District race in 2008 or the statewide Attorney General’s race in 2013 – lawyers from both major political parties are on hand to scrutinize the canvass. You can be sure they will object and report back to their party leaders if they suspect any shenanigans.

Finally, some three weeks after Election Day, the State Board of Elections, in an open meeting, will certify the election results. If results in one or another race are close, this is the time for a losing candidate to request a recount. The recount process, if it takes place – as it did in the Attorney General elections of 2005 and 2013 – is conducted under the supervision of the circuit court and takes place in a public venue open to observers. Rules for recounts are comprehensive and stipulated before the process begins — nothing ad hoc or made up as it goes along.

Some readers will object that even these provisions in law and practice are not sufficiently transparent to protect against “rigging.” That may be so, but those objections have to be backed up by hard evidence, not conjecture, in order to be persuasive.

Photo credit: Ben Schumin

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