by Joe Facinoli | Joe’s Corner |
Given that we are writing this piece on Tuesday evening, Nov. 8 (election day), and that there are already reports of complaints and problems from various voting sites (Ariz., Pa., and Ga. so far, gee, who could have guessed that ??!!), regarding the voting process in general, and specifically about counting the mail-in ballots, as well as several other electronic and technical issues, we thought this would be a good time share our belief that there is only one way to eliminate all these problems, once and for all, and to ensure that fair and transparent elections can be held, and every time:
*****Everyone (with very few exceptions) must to vote in person, on ONE ELECTION DAY ONLY, using a paper ballot, which will be filled out only by the voter themselves, in a pen used by their own hands, NO machines nor electronics involved, and which ballot, once filled out with the voters self-made choices, will then be counted by a living person, using NO machines nor electronics, and subsequently be kept safely in a secure and well publicized location, in case a re-count is needed, or something goes wrong with the first attempt to count all the ballots.
Absentee ballots can still exist, but only for the most serious of situations and reasons, and with very few exceptions to the single day, in person voting being conducted. And most importantly, these ballots must be individually requested, through the U.S. mail only, using no electronic methods (including email), at least one month prior to election day, and if approved, after considerable vetting, the person’s ballot must be received by the election board no later than one week prior to election day.
No other Mail In voting will be allowed, nor will be accepted, under ANY circumstances, and no ballots will be mailed, by any election board, nor any other entity, to anyone who does not specifically, individually, and officially request them.
Once a list of allowed mail-in voters is completed, then it must be provided to any individual or entity which requests it, and then must be published in all local newspapers or media sources, sufficient to make this list as public as possible, so that it can be further vetted by any person or entity who chooses to do so.
All counting of all ballots will take place on Election Day ONLY, and must be completed by 12 midnight on Election Day, and not one minute later. If more poll workers are needed for this to be accomplished, and if the workers need to be paid more money to be enticed to do this work, then that will have to be budgeted for, by the federal, state, and local election boards, to make this happen.
To make an individual vote, on Election Day, at the voting site, each eligible voter will earlier be provided with a Voting Identification Card, which will contain and confirm any and all information regarding that individual voter, which is deemed necessary to certify that voter as eligible to make a vote on that particular Election Day.
This Voting I.D. Card will contain a full face only picture of the voter, along with all other pertinent information being printed on the surface of the card, with any other secondary info contained in the computer square (the QR code) on the front of the card. The voter’s full and legible signature will be on the back of this Voter’s Card, with the voter’s name also printed by the voter, under their signature. This card will be laminated.
If the voter does not present this card to the election judges and workers at the voting site, OR, if this card cannot be read nor understood by those same election officials, then that voter will not be allowed to make a vote of any kind, on that particular Election Day.
It will be said, that having all these requirements for casting a ballot could cause some to not be able to vote, because of their problems with their Voting I.D. Card, or with the manual Voting System in general. But better that, it would seem, than allowing for the myriad of possibilities of massive voter fraud, control, and corruption, which we have previously seen, and that exists with the idiotic, and much too convenient current system of mail-in voting, and electronic counting of ballots.
Those two systems were practically invented to make fraud easier, and are certainly rife with the likelihood of voter and voting corruption. No one will be denied a vote, as long as they do their part in making themselves eligible to vote, by requesting a ballot or a voting card, well before any Election Day.
It’s not like anyone could miss hearing about it, given all the media coverage. But God forbid, it might actually take just a little bit of civic responsibility on the part of the citizen, so that they can exercise their greatest gift of freedom, in this great country.
Voting should never be about convenience, anyway. Only about fulfilling our civic and democratic duty and responsibility, to elect our government representatives in the best, fairest, and most honest way possible.
If that means waiting in lines, or needing to take additional time away from our personal chores and obligations, on a given day, then so be it. It’s the most important civic role we have, in our culture and society, and we lose our “right” to complain about governmental and community functions, etc., if we don’t take part in it. And elections only come once every two years, for God’s sake.
General elections were held in this country for almost one hundred years before even the telephone was invented. And then for decades more, before computers made their way into our lives, and even longer before the internet interceded into everything. And we survived just fine.
Presidential elections had disputes and major challenges, as early as 1800, between two of our greatest founders and icons: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who allowed for a solution (by reading the Constitution), and who later became good friends. Once again, we should take good heed from the example of these two brilliant and culturally responsible men.
Fair and honest elections seem like the easiest thing to accomplish, among all the challenges we face. Unless those in control think otherwise, and are more nefarious and self-serving, than they are civic minded and patriotic.
Let’s remember who those “nefarious” ones are, as we vote in the coming years.
And hopefully, today’s results will be clean, clear, and honest.
God Bless the U.S.A. !
© Copyright Joe Facinoli, 11-9-2022
Intelligent Response Encouraged.
joefacinoli@yahoo.com