20 Threats and Defenses for Absentee Ballots and Other Election Procedures

Abstract

Democracy is worth defending. Election offices treat fraud and mistakes as serious issues. They examined 55 million signatures in 2020 and rejected at least 115,000 legitimate voters, to catch an unknown number of fraudulent ballots. They rejected 67,000 ballots because records showed another ballot had arrived from the same name. In 2018-2023, elections were overturned because of mistakes in CA, GA, NJ and PA. Elections were overturned because of fraud in CT, LA, NC, NJ and TX. Despite all efforts, a majority of the public have not had full confidence in election results for decades. Election offices need to build confidence by having and publicizing strong defenses. Thank-you notes for absentee ballots can tell voters how to report if they did not send the ballot. Webcasts of each step help detect problems. Audits of election counts check their accuracy. This paper covers mistakes, threats, rules for who votes absentee, and investigations of problems.

Keywords: election, audit, threat, risk, defense, vote, cybersecurity, quality control, hand count, recount, threat, computer, cost, tabulation, hotline, absentee ballot, internet voting, impersonation, drop boxes, programming, software, lock, seal, physical security, voter registration, pollbook, logic and a