Yesterday, voters in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District went to the polls to select a successor to the late Congressman Gerry Connolly, decisively electing Democrat James Walkinshaw to fill the seat. As I have for many years now, I served as an Election Officer at our local precinct, and I wanted to take a few minutes today to offer some thoughts on elections and the protection of our rights.
I have nothing but contempt for those who complain of vast voter fraud. Years of experience as a trained election officer have given me confidence in the strength and honesty of our elections and the near impossibility of manipulating the system at the precinct and county level. Of course, Fairfax County is a largely upper middle class district with a good tax base* that allows generous investment in equipment and training for election workers, and we have a strict code of ethics for election officers that we renew annually and take very seriously.
I would venture to say that the chances of someone sucessfully voting illegally in this county are virtually zero. If there is any question at the precinct level about someone’s eligibility (for whatever reason) to vote, we provide them a “provisional” ballot. My job, as a trained “Provisional Voting Specialist,” is to make sure that the voter provides enough initial information to allow the next level reviewers to make a judgement on the eligibility of the voter and allow their vote to be recorded. The most common reason for issuing a provisional ballot is that the voter requested an absentee ballot, but either lost it or decided to vote in person and did not surrender the unmarked absentee ballot at the polling place. In such cases, the person votes provisionally, and their vote is counted once the Election Authority verifies that the absentee ballot was not cast and counted. Another reason is that the voter resides in our district, but did not previously register to vote. In such cases, the Provisional Voting Specialist (yep, me) verifies the voter’s address and the date they moved into the precinct and makes a decision on whether the person can do a “Same Day Registration” (SDR, allowed by Virginia law) and cast a provisional ballot pending final confirmation of their eligibility. In some cases, the law offers a person who recently moved but but failed to change their registration to the new address the option either to return to their old precinct and cast a regular vote or to vote provisionally in the new precinct. Either way, the voter gets to vote.
The process of counting the votes at the precinct level is designed to prevent errors and fraudulent voting. Everything has to match or be otherwise accounted for: if X number of people checked in to vote, we need to show that X number of blank ballots were issued and X number of ballots were recorded by the optical scanner. If the numbers don’t match, we take excruciating care to figure out why. Sometimes a voter marks their ballot incorrectly or makes some extra mark that causes the scanner to reject it … they surrender the original ballot, which we mark as “spoiled” and retain, and we issue them a new one, in which case the record will show more ballots issued than voters checked in. Occasionally, we get what we call a “fleeing voter,” who has checked in and been issued a ballot, but who leaves the polling place without scanning their ballot or before the optical scanner indicates their ballot was rejected … in this case, the numbers will show fewer ballots scanned and recorded than voters checked in. We must account for every discrepancy, and can’t leave the polling place at the end of the day until we have.
Virginia voting law is designed to offer the maximum opportunity for eligible citizens to vote. At the pollling place, we will never tell anyone “you can’t vote.” The system is designed to assume voter eligibility by allowing the casting of provisional ballots that are counted once the voter’s eligibility has been confirmed. The system allows everyone to cast a ballot while weeding out ineligibles through the verification process. The penalties for voting illegally are severe, in order to protect our most valuable right.
If you are one of those people who are convinced - against all evidence - that voter fraud at the polling place level is a thing, then put up or shut up - volunteer to be part of the process and learn how things really work. Volunteer to be an Election Officer, get the training, know the law, and see the process as it actually works, not as you’ve been told it does by people who have their own malicious agenda.
Obviously, I can’t speak for the training, processes, and individual integrity of the election workers in every state, but I can tell you - from years of experience and extensive training - that elections in our county are as honest and trustworthy as they can be.
And I’m proud to be a part of it.
Have a good day. If you want to protect the integrity of your vote, become a part of the election system: volunteer to become a trained Election Officer in your county or parish, and regain your confidence in the process that protects your most important voice.
More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
* And do I like to complain about that!
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