Democracy and Fraud-Free Elections
The Welcome Challenge of Protecting Voters and Fighting Fraud at the Same Time
This is Civic Way’s ninth essay on state and local elections. In this essay, we try to reconcile two competing goals—increase voter participation and minimize fraud. In our last commentary, we outlined a customer-service approach to voter registration. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving government agencies.
Highlights:
Our election systems cannot be 100 percent fraud-free, but they should strike a balance between increasing voter turnout and ensuring electoral integrity
The federal government should issue free national photo ID cards to all citizens aged 16 and states should recognize these cards for voting purposes
Every state should make Election Day a holiday, make their voting systems more convenient and offer a range of secure voting options to make voting easier (e.g., early voting and curbside voting)
Every state should make no-excuse voting by mail readily available to all voters
The Perils of Crying Wolf
Politicians raising the specter of voter fraud remind us of Peter and the Wolf. You know, the fable we tell children to discourage them from telling tall tales.
In defending Arizona’s decision to launch its ill-fated “audit” of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, Republican Senate President Karen Fann asked, “Are you 100 percent confident that … no dead people voted, that ballots weren’t filled out by other people, that the chain of custody … was accurate … the entire time? Can you tell me that?”
Any honest election official from one of our 10,000 election agencies would quickly answer, “No, of course not.”
Why? Purity should be the hope, but it can never be the guarantee for election systems, or any other system run by human beings. If we cannot accept election outcomes without a full money-back guarantee, we will most assuredly lose our democracy.
Like Peter, the politicians shouting “stolen election” and “fraud” are lying. Unlike Peter, they are lying repeatedly. And unlike the villagers Peter initially fooled, it is the sheep in our modern parable who buy the lie. And, in buying the lie, the sheep are putting our democracy at risk.
The Truth about Voter Access
The battle over election fraud and voter access rages in every state. It is fierce and predictable. In states controlled by Democrats, lawmakers try to increase voter access. In states controlled by Republicans, legislators restrict voter access. They talk about integrity and voter rights, but, make no mistake, the fight is about power.
Due to the dedication of hard-working election officials throughout America—of all political persuasions—the 2020 elections went well. Democratic and Republican leaders worked to facilitate voting during unprecedented conditions. Over 158 million ballots were cast. Two-thirds of eligible voters participated. Fraud was virtually non-existant.
Despite the historic success of the 2020 elections, one major party—the GOP—has decided to reinforce its brand around discrediting elections, starting with the 2020 election (but only the ones they lost).
The GOP demands election integrity, but this is a ruse. If its leaders really cared about fraud, they wouldn’t ignore the elections they win. If its electoral integrity campaign was sincere, it would include pragmatic nonpartisan ideas for improving turnout, security and reliability.
The voter access war is but one front of this fierce partisan battle for power. On one side of the battle, partisans enact laws expanding voter access—relaxing voter identification rules, making in-person voting easier and expanding mail voting. On the other side, partisans seek to limit voter access by imposing onerous voter identification rules, making in-person voting more arduous and limiting (or eliminating) mail voting programs.
Voter access entails three major issues—voter identification, in-person voting and mail voting. Each is discussed below followed by recommendations for improving voter access.
Voter Identification
Voter identification (ID) is essential to a viable electoral system. It helps ensure that each voter is qualified and votes only once. And photo ID has emerged as the standard for an effective voter ID regimen.
The state-issued driver license is the most familiar photo ID. Unfortunately, about 10 percent of citizens (disproportionately poor and minority) lack one. When laws limit voting to one ID that many citizens lack, those laws are probably a way to suppress voting. In response, some Republicans have sought tougher photo ID laws while many Democrats have opposed photo ID laws altogether.
A national ID card could solve this dilemma. The US issues passports and Social Security cards. A 2005 bipartisan commission endorsed a federal voter ID. Yet, many Americans oppose a national photo ID card, most often on privacy grounds. Such opposition may be sincere, but it oftens overlook how much personal data we have already surrendered to private behemoths like Google, Facebook and Apple.
The Real ID, launched in response to 9/11, could move the US closer to a national photo ID. While plagued by delays, the Real ID could help resolve the voter identification issue. Essentially a driver license with more security, the Real ID will be needed for commercial fight and federal building access. It also could be used for voting registration. In the meantime, voter identification rules will continue to vary by state and, in some states, used to prevent certain citizens from voting.
In-Person Voting
When a state decides to make in-person voting harder, it has many levers. It can continue to conduct elections on Tuesdays when many are required to work and unable to take time off. It can limit the number of voting hours. Close polling places in targeted areas and limit voting machines, staffing, parking and restroom facilities in the remaining polling sites. Ban conveniences such as curbside voting and ballot drop boxes.
Most states offer early voting (i.e., casting ballots before Election Day), but the programs vary considerably. The differences include the early voting times (days and hours), the number, location and size of early voting polling sites. Many red states have enacted laws to curtail early voting while blue states have enacted the most ambitious early voting programs (e.g., Souls to the Polls).
Mail Voting
Vote by Mail (VBM) can be excuse-based (the ballot requires the requisite excuse) or no-excuse (the ballot requires no explanation). Absentee voting (excuse-based)—the best-known VBM—began during the Civil War. Until recently, Republican voters used it far more than Democratic voters.
In the last two decades, VBM has become more popular. All states offer it in some form. Some (plus DC) offer no-excuse VBM and some offer excuse-based VBM. Six states have no-excuse, all-VBM elections. Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington have statewide all-VBM elections. Utah authorizes counties to hold all-VBM elections (in 2020, all counties used VBM). In 2020, California mailed ballots to all registered voters and, in 2021, migrated from county to statewide all-VBM elections.
In 2020, most states expanded VBM to provide a safe alternative to in-person voting during the pandemic. There was some GOP opposition, but many GOP election officials supported VBM. Democrats adopted it quickly and, for the first time, voted by mail more than Republicans. Despite VBM’s wide usage during 2020, fraud was negligible (as it was before the pandemic).
Before 2020, VBM-related fraud was not a source of controversy. Despite the absence of VBM-related voter fraud, GOP politicians started attacking it as fraudulent. Despite its long-standing use by Republican voters, GOP politicians began calling VBM a partisan ploy by Democrats.
Many GOP-controlled states have enacted legislation to limit VBM. Shorter ballot request and receipt deadlines. Bureaucratic signature and affidavit rules. Reduced drop-off boxes. Delayed ballot counting. Some GOP lawmakers have sought to eliminate MBV altogether.
Strategies for Improving Voter Access
1. Strengthen national and state voting standards. Establish clear access, turnout, wait time and security goals. Give voters more choices—provide a full range of convenient voting options in all states. Establish minimum standards for accepting MBV ballots (e.g., postmarked no later than election day and received no later than seven days after Election Day polls close).
2. Implement a standard voter ID system. Standardize voter ID rules. Require every state to accept the national photo ID card and a provisional alternative (e.g., Social Security card). Automatically issue a free photo ID card to every registered or pre-registered voter. Ensure the quick, free delivery of ID cards to all voters requesting them. Fund ample mobile programs to provide ID cards in remote areas.
3. Expand voter engagement. Continually inform registered voters of any changes that could affect their ability to vote. Establish a user-friendly website with a ballot tracking module for following ballots from delivery to counting. Certify qualified nonpartisan groups for voter assistance. Fund adequate public outreach campaigns to regularly inform voters of voting rules (e.g., voter ID requirements).
4. Reschedule in-person voting. Make Election Day a national holiday or reschedule it (e.g., the first two-day weekend of November). Schedule elections by type (e.g., schedule federal elections during even years and state and local elections during odd years). Expand in-person early voting times (e.g., at least 20 days). Provide a convenient in-person option for voters in VBM states.
5. Make in-person voting convenient. Provide sufficient polling places to maximize turnout and minimize wait times. Establish central polling places located near employment hubs and public transportation. Ensure adequate parking. Provide curbside voting. Make all polling places ADA-compliant. Offer sufficient drinking water and public restroom facilities at polling places.
6. Implement a full VBM system. Eliminate excuse-based absentee voting. Merge no-excuse absentee voting with VBM. Streamline the VBM application and distribution process. Automatically send VBM applications or ballots to all registered voters (electronically or by mail). Establish an online VBM ballot request portal. Certify third parties for assisting with the distribution of VBM ballots to hard-to-reach groups. Supplement VBM ballots with convenient in-person options for those unable to VBM.
7. Ensure secure, convenient ballot collection. Retrofit mailboxes to accommodate ballots. Retrofit post offices with external ballot boxes, especially in remote areas. Start processing MBV ballots no later than 30 days from Election Day (e.g., process MBV ballots at receipt). Provide a curing process notifying voters of any ballot rejection and enabling them to correct errors.
The above strategies must be implemented with effective security controls to enhance the integrity and reliability of elections. We will discuss such controls in more detail in an upcoming essay.
Fighting for Open, Fair and Honest Elections
Let’s be honest. The campaign to discredit past elections is about winning future elections—engineering outcomes forpolitical power. It is a concerted effort to reduce voter access, especially for targeted voters. Governing and democracy are mere collateral damage.
Despite the self-serving lies to the contrary, the 2020 election demonstrated the commitment of most Americans to democracy. We take voting seriously. We can conduct fair, honest elections in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. We can fight fraud and increase voter turnout at the same time.
In the years ahead, we can continue to realize the benefits of fair, honest elections. Enhanced voter safety and convenience. High voter turnout. More accurate results and reliable reporting. Reduced Election Day congestion and operating costs. Restored public faith in election systems and democratic institutions.
Such rewards will elude us if we take democracy for granted. If we allow demagogues to discredit or threaten our elections and hard-working election officials. Our democracy depends on our willingness to fight for voter access and against voting fraud at the same time.