A Plan to Save the Integrity of the 2022 Delaware Elections
Cranston Heights Fire Co., 3306 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington DE 19808 (map)
Doors open at 6:00 PM / Presentation 6:30-8:30 PM / Q&A After
Presented by: Dan Lesher
This presentation provides a critical review of the Delaware Election Processes. It identifies specific observed problems, and vulnerabilities, then provides recommendations to address most issues.
The majority of recommendations do not require any enabling legislation and as such, given cooperation, are believed to be feasible for implementation prior to the 2022 election.
Who should attend?
Interested Public:
Are you concerned about election integrity but don't know what to do because you think the process is too complex? It is not. This presentation should take a lot of mystery out of the process and the machines.
Are you concerned some people are avoiding this sensitive topic? Learn why.
This presentation does not avoid problems, it surfaces them and provides specific recommendations. Americans are not afraid of problems. We find problems, then we solve them.
Candidates:
Are you concerned about election integrity?
Candidates, and some others have special rights. You may learn things that help you win your own race.
How about marketing? THIS IS A TOP ISSUE FOR VOTERS. Are you prepared to answer detailed questions on this topic when you are out door knocking, at your next fundraiser, or in a debate?
There will be registered voters present. Maybe meet more here than in a couple hours of door knocking.
Department of Elections:
Board Members and Personnel: Benefit from an outsiders review of the process.
You may have insight or data that can eliminate or re-prioritize some of the concerns presented.
You may have the means and authority to implement simple improvements tomorrow.
What roadblocks outside your authority do you need removed to implement changes?
Let the public know, maybe we can help.
The goal for all is the same, free, fair, convenient elections, for all legal voters.
Topics to be Discussed
Logistics: Are elections complex? No! With a brief review, we can take the mystery our of elections. How many votes do we count, at how many voting locations? What tools (machines) do we use and why? Before we look at the detail, and propose solutions, we should probably take a step back and look at the big picture first.
How difficult would it be for someone to get a genuine absentee ballot and envelope, in your name sent, to them by the Department of Elections (DOE)? How about a lot of ballots?
In normal times it is important to vote, if there is cheating in elections, learn why IT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO VOTE. Turnout can help defeat some nefarious tactics. Learn why. What is the best way to cast your vote in 2022? In person? Absentee? .......or something else?
Elected officials, through Title 15, 5523 indicate that the Logic and Accuracy Test (LAT) shall "ensure that the voting system is properly programmed", yet the DOE employs a test that can not detect some of the most trivial types of improper programming. Is the problem with the elected officials expectations of what the test can do, or the DOE implementation?
Elected officials, through Title 15, 5001A (c) , require that voting systems purchased by the State must be certified by the EAC and meet or exceed VVSG standards. Vendors literature indicate that their equipment is so certified, yet in practice, in Delaware, it appears that they do not perform to the referenced standards. Is the problem with the equipment, or the DOE implementation of the system and equipment, or something else?
Delaware employs a process that uses a machine to count votes. That process in practice resulted in about 220% x more, by hand, by eye inspections than would have been required by DOE personnel, than if they simply counted the votes by hand in the first place. Does it make sense for the DOE to do that when they are not required to do that?
As employed in Delaware, we believe there is one combination of machines that offer the best risk/reward invitation for both a generic enemy, and the specific person(s) that would implements the cheating. Learn the combination of machines, and the oversight in Title 15 that serves to enable this situation.
Long Lines? If the absentee voting process is the most vulnerable, wouldn't enemies, want Delaware, to move away from "in person voting" towards "mail in voting"? A simple strategy, would be to make the "in person voting experience" inconvenient such that unknowing voters and elected officials would demand the alternative. Wouldn't a simple way to effect that be to create long voting lines? What machine, and Delaware process, is the bottleneck according to an anecdotal survey of election workers? Coincidentally, the same machine has other capabilities that would make it extremely valuable to a cheater if they had access.
Five Ways To Beat the Post Election Audits: The post election audits are a key linchpin to insuring election integrity in Delaware. Unfortunately the DOE has confirmed that it does not have written procedures for these audits. After witnessing one such audit, and to to illustrate the importance of written procedures, 5 methods are postulated to defeat the audits. Each requires less than 3 individuals, and less than a $1000 material budget. Some of these methods could not be caught on surveillance video. Critics will say nobody can prove this is happening, a counter is that DOE can not prove it is not happening. Both statements could be correct. Which statement is of more concern?
DOE Repair Systems: Much of this presentation would not be necessary if there were efficient means interaction with DOE personnel. All but the most simple, non- sensitive, questions to the DOE were directed to the FOIA process, ....which then didn't work. Title 15 also requires that the Commissioner set-up procedures for citizens to report violations to the Title. That procedure, was either hard to find, did not exist, or if that need was intended to be met by another procedure that did exist.....it was itself.... perhaps in violation of the Code.
Board of Elections (BOE): The BOE and Commissioner as a relatively balanced group, could be a great resource for help. Who are they? Who nominates them, and who appoints them to the position? Unfortunately they have not met in 7 of the last 12 months. Why? Contact information is not available for board members so it is difficult to make them aware of problems. How can we get the message to them, and how can they communicate to the public whether they are aware there are problems?
Conflicts of Interest? There may be unique conflicts of interest that arise when it comes to Election Integrity Issues? This doesn't necessarily mean anything untoward is being done but let's at least take a look and be aware of what categories of people might have potential conflicts, as we we try to get people to help.
These topics and more including a Q&A session.