What's the Best Method to Vote in DE?

FIRST AND FOREMOST VOTE! 

There are concerns and perhaps confusion about the best method to vote, but let’s be clear, even if there is fraud, it is important to vote.  It is even more important to vote if there is fraud, vs. if there is not.  Why?  Many schemes for voter fraud depend on “bad actors” utilizing names on the voter roll that are “not used”.  If you don’t vote, YOUR name is “not used” and some say it can be matched with a fraudulent ballot.  If you do vote, that is one less name the bad actors can use. 

Methods:

So now let’s get into the method’s currently available for voting in Delaware.  There are 3 generic methods.  They are:  1.)  “Day of In Person” (DO)  2.)  Early-In-Person (EIP) , and 3.)  Absentee (AV).  The DO method is the most traditional.  You show up to the polls on election day, you show your ID and in Delaware you typically vote on a machine.  With EIP voting, you show up in the allocated days prior to “the” election day and you enter your vote on the same type machine.  Finally with the Absentee Method, you request a paper ballot from the Department of Elections (DOE).  That can be done by email.  They typically send you a blank ballot and a return envelope by USPS mail.  Ideally, the voter fills out the ballot and then “causes the ballot to be returned” to the DOE.

Day of In Person:  Benefits/ Concerns:

Most often this method of voting goes off without a hitch.  You go to the polls, wait in line less than the time it takes to get a cup of coffee and vote.  Then you get that wonderful little sticker and wear it beaming with pride for the rest of the day for having done your patriotic duty. 

With that said, in our last election (2022) there were problems.  Printers and poll books went down, certain locations ran out of ballots and lines got long in some locations.  There is concern that with DO voting you might have an emergency on election day so you can’t get to the polls.  In 2022 there were anecdotal stories that people that showed up to the polls, only to be told that they had already submitted an Absentee Ballot.  They were denied their right to vote.  It is because of these problems that some suggest you use the EIP, or AV methods and “Bank Your Vote”. 

Early In Person AND Absentee Voting:

By reviewing the comments above it would appear that the advantages of the EIP and AV methods would be convenience, and a higher probability that you will get a ballot submitted.  So what are the downsides?  Some, myself included believe that these methods are more susceptible to fraud.  In the case of the Absentee Ballot, once it leaves the voters hands, does it get’s back to the DOE without substitution or other incident.  While the vote by candidate is not known prior to the polls closing, the information as to how many people have showed up to vote by Absentee and Early, methods, and the party of each are known and available. There are concerns that by requesting your ballot, you are giving any potential cheaters an early estimate of how many ballots might be needed to win a race.

Absentee + Early Voting :  Special Concern in Delaware

All, Day of In Person (DO):  Voting machines, are subject to post election quality control checks on a percentage basis.  Generically these QC checks are referred to as a “Risk Limiting Audits” (RLA’s).  From a pool of all such machines, various random samples are selected. The paper ballots are removed from the machines and hand counted and checked against the results reported by the computer system on election night.

The ABSENTEE AND EARLY VOTE BALLOTS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO SUCH AN AUDIT!  While such an oversight is hard to fathom, a review of audit reports posted by the DOE will show that the machines that scan these categories of ballots have never been selected for such public view post election Risk Limiting audits.  DOE personnel have confirmed that this is the case in public audit of the DO machines.  Finally a FOIA request asking if any such audits were available for these categories of ballots confirmed no such public reports were available.  It follows that if an algorithm were present, or injected, to “flip votes” from candidate A to B it would not be caught in the course of a normal election.  In 2022 over 20% of the voters chose the Absentee and Early methods and as a result their ballots, circumvented the QC step that was performed for the DO vote. The concern is that by putting your ballot through these machines it could get flipped and you could actually help not your guy….but the other guy.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS?  So there are concerns with each of the methods of voting.  Is there a Best of Both Worlds?

Consider this: 1.) Request Your Absentee Ballot: 2.) Keep it, Don’t Send it Back. 3) Vote Day of In Person with your blank Absentee Ballot, and official DOE return envelope in your pocket. Why?

In the 2022 election, I had valid reason to get my Absentee Ballot.  I was concerned I would be away on election day and therefore I requested and received my Absentee Ballot.  By doing so, 1. ) I prevented anyone else from being able to get my Absentee Ballot.  In addition if on election day, during DO voting someone had told me I already voted, 2.) I would have proof that I had not, and I would have evidence of systemic fraud.  Finally, what about that last concern, what if there were just mechanical problems on Election Day and lines got to be 4 hours long.  Well, I would still have had my Absentee Ballot, and 3.) As my back-up plan I could drop it off at a DOE location prior to the close of the polls.

As circumstances occurred, I was able to vote in person.  Upon presenting my ID, the poll workers properly acknowledged that I had requested an Absentee Ballot.  I indicated that was correct.  I asked them if the system showed that I had returned that ballot.  They properly said no and let me vote.  I then showed them my blank Absentee Ballot and Return Envelope and asked if they would like me to “void” or destroy them? They properly said that was not necessary because upon casting my “in person” vote the system would know that, and prevent people from counting my Absentee Ballot if it, or a fraudulent one in my name showed up later.

Conclusion:  There are many different reasons you may NEED to vote Early or Absentee.  If you really have a pressing need these may be best for you.  On the other hand, I personally believe that these are more vulnerable to fraud.  I believe a “flipping” algorithm is one of the most efficient ways to cheat with the least chance of the “bad actor” being caught. I believe that actually the hardest part of such a scam is to convince “the other team” to put their ballots into the part of the system that circumvents the QC check. After all, the cheater won’t flip votes of their team.  The trick would be to get the opposition to put their votes in the part of the system that circumvents the QC check. 

Here is the link to the DOE site regarding absentee voting. DOE Absentee Voting At the bottom of that page you can request the ballot 2 ways. I would recommend method 2 where you fill out the form and send it by email. That way you have a record of when it was sent.

This was taken from the FAQ’s page on the the DOE website regarding whether you can vote in person after having requested an Absentee Ballot.

OK, there is quit a bit to consider regarding the methods of voting. With all that being said, I will finish this note where I started.  NO MATTER WHAT METHOD YOU CHOOSE,  VOTE!