>>24735260 (me)

Restoring Auditability, Ballot Secrecy, and Chain of Custody Through Precinct-Based Voting

Preserving Voter Access

This approach preserves voter access while restoring election integrity safeguards. Eligible voters would still be able to vote anywhere within the county. If a voter chooses to vote outside their assigned precinct, the voter would simply cast a provisional ballot using the correct ballot style for their home precinct.

Provisional ballots already exist as a safeguard to ensure that eligible voters are not denied access to the ballot box. They provide election officials an opportunity to verify eligibility and determine why the ballot was cast provisionally rather than regularly. Once approved, provisional ballots would be sorted into their proper precinct before counting.

This process preserves ballot access while restoring precinct-level accountability for all methods of in-person voting, which is mandated by federal law, as outlined in The Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and is reflected either directly or indirectly in every state statute outlining all modern voting system standards.

Restoring the ABCs of Election Security

Returning to precinct-based voting for both Early Voting and Election Day would immediately restore ballot secrecy for every voter by ensuring that voters always retain the option of voting within their assigned precinct, and by ensuring provisional voters also enjoy this privacy guarantee. Restoring ballot secrecy inherently strengthens auditability and chain of custody because election records can once again be examined,without the need for redactions, and reconciled without the risk of linking individual voters to their ballots.

Approved provisional ballots sorted by precinct before counting would further ensure that every ballot is ultimately counted and reported within the voter’s proper precinct. This restores full forensic auditability while strengthening the chain of custody for all precinct returns.

The result is a system that protects voter privacy, improves public transparency, and allows election records to be meaningfully examined without compromising ballot secrecy.

Benefits for Audits and Recounts

A precinct-based system would also simplify audits and recounts. When all ballots associated with a precinct are physically maintained and reported together, election officials can review, audit, and recount those ballots without first attempting to locate all ballots cast from voters in the precincts eligible for the candidate cast at any voting location through electronic records of countywide ballot distributions.

Physical precinct ballot groupings provide a clearer chain of custody, reduce administrative complexity, and allow election officials to focus directly on the ballots being reviewed. This reduces the time, labor, and expense required to conduct audits and recounts while improving confidence in the results.

Conclusion

Returning to precinct-based voting is a simple, cost-effective reform that can be implemented using existing voting technology. It preserves countywide voter access, guarantees that voters receive the correct ballot style, restores ballot secrecy, strengthens auditability and chain of custody, simplifies audits and recounts, and improves public confidence in election outcomes. Most importantly, it achieves these goals while utilizing procedures and safeguards that already exist within current election law and election administration practices.

Additional Resources

For additional research, reports, and educational materials on election security, hand-counting methods, ballot counting demonstrations, and other VITAL concepts for securing U.S. elections, visit TBTR at tbtr.us.

For those looking to leave a meaningful, positive, pro-America impression on the next generation, educational coloring books featuring America’s founding documents, constitutional principles, civics, history, and patriotic themes are available now. These books provide an engaging way to promote civic education while serving as memorable educational and campaign materials that families can keep and enjoy long after Election Day.

Thank you.

https://tbtx.substack.com/p/restoring-auditability-ballot-secrecy