18 Mar Personally…
My Very Fine Friends,
In a little-reported but very consequential vote this past Tuesday, the Nye County Commissioners in Nevada voted unanimously to recommend the elimination of electronic voting machines and for the use of paper ballots only, and that the ballots be counted at the precinct (not centralized) level. In addition, the paper ballots are to be secured with anti-counterfeit measures.
While the vote was a recommendation and not an order to Nye County Clerk Sandra Merlino, it is a giant step and hopefully a trend-setting step that should spread around the country. Indeed, a Lyon County Nevada Commissioner said she expects her county to follow suit later this month. The Associated Press reports that in 6 other states the legislatures are considering requiring hand counting of election ballots.
This is game-changing and America-preserving, because election integrity is one of the bedrock elements that keeps America free and strong, and because paper ballots are the only available and reliable vehicle to prevent electronic election fraud.
Just as a massive bridge would collapse without the support beams that hold it securely in place, the future and freedom of America will collapse without the support beams that hold America up. One of the most consequential of those America-preserving support beams is our election process.
Elections make the difference between an America where We the People choose our government officials, as intended by our founders, and an America ruled by those who were best at cheating to win, including those most skilled at manipulating electronic election machine software and electronic vote tabulation machines.
To answer some of the tired, trite, and predictable talking points by those opposed to paper ballots and hand counting of votes:
- Yes, there was and is evidence that electronic election fraud, (which means hacking into voting machines and is similar to other computer hacking), has occurred in America in the past. The courts that were presented with cases alleging electronic election fraud in the 2020 elections never looked at the evidence, but instead tossed the cases out on procedural grounds such as ruling that plaintiffs lacked standing.
- No, recent election integrity legislation in various states did not already address this issue. At all. States addressed other aspects of the election fraud problem such as what ID is needed, cleaning voter roles, ending the mailing out of unaccountable and unsolicited mail in ballots and more, but did not address the most invisible and insidious form of election fraud, the manipulation of voter tabulation software in electronic voting machines.
- Yes, we can afford to take the time and effort to vote on paper ballots and to hand count those ballots, even if it takes a little longer to know the outcome. What we cannot afford to do is to continue voting on machines that are vulnerable to hacking, and leave Americans distrusting the process and doubting the legitimacy of the announced election outcome. This change will help tremendously in restoring the faith of the American people in the integrity of the process.
I am committed to fighting for meaningful election law reform that makes it easy for eligible voters to vote and harder for anyone to cheat. The paper ballot system, with hand counting, is a great first step. Many other reforms are needed, and I’ll be talking more about them over the next weeks and months.
Speak Truth About America.
Facts Matter. Truth Matters. America Matters.
I’ll talk to you next week. I can’t wait!
DebbieG