THE FOLLOWING IS A WORK-IN-PROGRESS.
If you have suggestions, please reach out!
You can find me on X @PatriotMarkCook

Scope

At the heart of democratic governance lies the voting system, a mechanism designed to reflect the collective will of the people. For this system to truly serve its purpose, it must be so simple and transparent that every citizen, regardless of their background, education, or technological literacy, can not only participate but also understand and verify every step of the process. This simplicity and transparency are not just about ease of use; they are fundamental to ensuring equal access to the electoral process. If the mechanics of voting are shrouded in complexity or lack transparency, trust in the electoral outcome diminishes, eroding the foundation of our republic. At its essence, voting involves citizens marking their choices on paper, followed by a straightforward count of these marks. This process doesn’t necessitate elaborate or costly technology; instead, it demands clarity, accessibility, and the ability for public oversight. For American citizens to genuinely reclaim their electoral process, immediate and comprehensive reforms are imperative. Here’s what we must implement:

Voter Registration

• Every 2 year
• In-person at the county
• Verified citizen and residency check at that time
• On a paper voter registration card
• Witnessed signature
• Stored by voting precinct
• A read-only standardized digital list of registered voters is provided by every county on their website to share with the citizens and all other counties
• Each county cross-references their list against all other counties. Paper poll books for each precinct are created from registration cards prior to every election

Absentee Ballots

• Limited to as-needed basis
• Proof must be provided and accepted
• Extreme scrutiny must be placed on every incoming ballot, with additional integrity mechanisms
  • A Ballot choice ‘hash’ could be developed that could be used as additional form of received ballot integrity

Election Day

• One day voting holiday
• Elections at the precinct (each precinct <= 1500 population)
• Standardized FIXED voting start/end/duration across the country to eliminate time-staggered abuse vector (14-hour voting period, for example) – This will require some work and thought!
  • West coast would be starting at 5a and ending at 7p.
  • East coast voting would start at 9a and end at 11p.
  • 100% registered and participated, would result in just under 2 voters per minute max needed throughput. If each voter takes 6 minutes to fill out the ballot, one would need to have minimum 6 voting booths per precinct. If people arrive with cheat sheets, this is all easily doable.
• Checked in on paper poll book
• Witnessed signature
• Cross-referenced with previously filled out voter registration card
• No early or late ballots
• Paper ballots dropped in translucent locked container
• Entire room on video

Election Night

• At poll close, all ballots:
  • Batched
  • Scanned to produce digital images
  • Votes COUNTED WHERE CAST
    • Under video
    • Bi-partisan citizens and witnesses using state-approved hand tabulation method
• Results released right then by precinct and posted on the outside of the building for all to see/verify

Reporting

• Each precinct posts the signed precinct results on the outside of the building, the same page that was scanned during tabulation
• All ballot images, tally sheets, results pages, other paperwork, and video put on county website grouped by precinct for anyone and everyone to verify all they like.
  • Just like I did here: https://openelectionrecords.org/ar-searcy-county-2024-03-05/
• Our election officials should be Election Transparency Agents, who’s duties are ensuring that all chain of custody and election records are both preserved and both made public to enable exhaustive audits to be performed by any American Citizen that desires to do so.

Auditing

• Students in 6-12th grades
  • Civics refresher
  • Election refresher
  • Break into groups
  • Pull up their school’s precinct ballots from county website
  • Students re-tabulate the ballots themselves
  • Compare results
  • If there is any discrepancy
    • Students submit through a standardized reporting form on County Website
    • County celebrates the catch and publicly awards the class
  • Advanced math students could then dive into the statistics of the elections to identify inorganic patterns
• Public
  • The public can access all election data on the county website and audit to their hearts content
    • Voted lists
    • Ballot tabulation
    • Chain of Custody
    • Statistics