Election remedies

We’ve all heard conversations about how to bring about election integrity: Paper ballots, no electronic tabulation, in-person same day voting, etc. Less prominent are conversations about corrupted voter rolls. Cleaning them up is a priority, but how, and how do we deal with the algorithms buried in the systems?

An Ohio lawyer asked me if assigning new ID numbers would fix the algorithm problem. The answer is, probably not. If the algorithms are designed to track hidden attributes, those attributes could be mapped to a new “mapping table” after the numbers have been changed, thus retaining the information. Also, it wouldn’t address other problems with the voter rolls.

Until I discovered the algorithms, they weren’t on anyone’s radar, but the rolls were so problematic in other ways that they still represented a problem so serious that it had to be addressed. There are bad addresses, fictitious names, cloned records, duplicates, false registration dates and voter histories, and many other errors. At least some of which had to be intentional.

So, how do we cleanup the rolls? In my opinion, by destroying them.

The damage currently found in the rolls is so severe, and hints at so much hidden structural damage that we can’t see, that it would be far less costly to replace the rolls entirely than to try and preserve the ones we have.

If I could have the solution I wanted, it would be something like this:

• All current voter registrations are immediately deactivated

• The current state of the voter rolls is preserved in an archived form. The archive must be totally separate, physically and electronically, from any replacement system.

• All qualified voters are encouraged to register anew.

• Mail-in registrations are prohibited, without exception. It’s exceptions that helped corrupt the database in the first place.

• To register, citizens must appear in person with proof of identity, citizenship, and current address. No exceptions.

• A signed affidavit, essentially identical to current voter registration applications, is filled out by the voter and retained in physical and digital form.

• The NVRA is either repealed entirely, or provisions that allow for Department of Motor Vehicles registrations are removed (the DMV is a major source of problematic records).

• HAVA regulations designed to prevent duplicate registrations are followed to the letter.

• A new registration database, with a common format in all states, is created.

• ID numbers are generated consecutively, on a first come, first served basis.

• The ID format will include a code for state and origin county (the county of initial registration) followed by the registration number. For instance: NY01000000001, where “NY01” stands for New York county 01, which is Albany.

• The date of original registration and current registration will be maintained in separate fields.

• Data validation tools will be enabled to prevent common errors, such as out of range dates caused by character transposition (“1790” instead of “1970” as year of birth), illogical addresses (addresses cross-referenced with USPS database to ensure they are residential), incomplete applications, etcetera.

• All voter roll databases will be available online to the public at no charge.

• Any Board of Elections that cannot produce a matching paper registration application for a given record must delete that record. If 2 or more registrations have identical signatures, both must be destroyed.

• Fraudulently generated records must be deleted. In their place, a field must note that the record was expunged as fraudulent. In this case, only the ID number, registration date, and reason for deletion are preserved. All other information, to prevent its use in new fraudulent records, is removed.

• Records assigned to the deceased or others who have for whatever reason lost their right to vote are assigned “purged” status, but all personal information is deleted, leaving only ID number, registration date, and status. Paper applications for these records are archived. These ID numbers are never re-used.

That is my fantasy of how our voter rolls can be fixed, pending a better idea later.