Moving Back to America: Killing Fraud

Killing Fraud

From Bill Whittle, here.

Computers Simply Execute Code

In the wake of the Dominion election software debacle, one of the excuses heard for count changes was, “a computer glitch.” Central processing units (CPUs), the core components of computers, simply execute programming code one line at a time. All errors are induced by humans, either through errors that were written into the programming code, or through errors by operators. Computers do not make mistakes, they simply execute code.

Blaming miscounts on computers is obfuscation. There are only a few choices available for miscounts: The programming code was written badly (human error), the programming code executed as intended (human malfeasance), or there were operator errors.

It’s Not The Votes That Count. . . .

An aphorism circulating during this election cycle goes something like, “It’s not the votes that count, it’s the one who counts the votes that counts.” The final tally of any election is the function of those who count the votes, whether human or machine.

There is a fundamental problem with electronic tabulation: The computer is a black box. No one can be absolutely certain of what goes on in the black box, not even the machine’s developer. One safeguard is to keep the input down to a humanly manageable and knowable number. That is, if there 2,000 ballots counted by the black box, the final output tally should be 2,000 votes distributed among the eligible candidates. 2,000 in, 2,000 out.

The scale of the ballot count is irrelevant–if the number of ballots going in is known, then the total number of votes coming out must be the same, or lower. Conversely, if the number of ballots going in is unknown, then the number of the votes tabulated is unknowable. GIGO-garbage in, garbage out.

Validating the Input, or Averting GIGO

Most of us have likely heard of the anecdotes, as well as sworn testimony, of ballots tendered by those who are dead, by people who live in casinos, and by those who live outside the voting jurisdiction. There are other accounts where signature validations were deemed unnecessary, where ballot harvesting occurred, and so on. These accounts auger for more secure ballot validation (remember GIGO).

In other words, precincts need to know who is voting, and if the voter is legitimately eligible to do so. Accurate voter rolls are a prerequisite for accurate ballot tabulation. Validating ballots against accurate voter rolls is the second necessary step for accurate ballot tabulation.

All Politics are Local

I was recently reminded that “all politics are local.” This truism has two ramifications. The first is that whoever you vote for, nationally or locally, their policy implementation will affect you. Arguably, the local candidate will have a more direct impact on your everyday life.

More to the point of this article, the second ramification is that ballots are tabulated locally, and then forwarded to state authorities. The state legislature cannot allow its Constitutional authority to be usurped by the governor, or secretary of state. Doing so inevitably condones disenfranchisement of voters at some level.

Killing the Fraud (and You Ain’t Gonna Like It).

The only way to prevent election fraud is by strengthening and changing election law state by state. Americans, me, you, must become politicians at the local level. “There is no way to beat fraud from the top down. There is no way to lose to fraud from the bottom up.”

There is only one mission for the American politician: Restore paper ballots on election day cast by verified voters.