Currently most regulations covering elections and counting ballots, mail-ins and provisional ballots are a state function. Some federal laws under 42 USC Ch 146 on voting machines and registration but is limited and vague. Fraud, US citizenship and residency are covered under 52 USC Ch 103 but is mainly written to protect individual voters and too vague to hold states accountable. National Conference of State Legislatures discusses elections offering suggestions but mainly shows the laws vary greatly among states.

1. Hold states accountable for verifying residency and citizenship. If discrepancies are noted, applicable counties/states are mandated to turn over voter registration rolls for federal audit.

1. Require states to review and purge rolls at a minimum every 2 years, preferably 1st calendar quarter after a federal election, thus allowing time for errors to be corrected.

1. Chain of custody for ballots and election equipment. States can established own plan to be reviewed and accepted by FEC or follow minimum federal standards. Such as sign off at pickup and delivery to poll location with serial numbers. Sign off for transfer of ballots during the election day. Sign off and number of ballots cast at the end of day (general and provisional to be separate line items). Sign off for mail-in collection points.

1. Standardize mail-in/absentee times. All ballots postmarked no later than election day will be valid and must be received by a certain date (suggest states apply for a cut off time based on prior history and a separate date for overseas/military be allowed).

1. All voters have a right to cast by paper ballot on election day. If a state has mail-in ballot, provision for paper ballot vote on election day must be provided. States may provide paper ballot for early voting.

1. (I would prefer) Limit early voting to 2-3 weeks before the election day.

1. States must submit their provisional and recount to the FEC and by bound at a federal level. Waivers for delays would be considered on case basis by county/state and must be submitted at least 2 days before the deadline. Waivers will be denied if waivers were granted the prior 2 consecutive federal election cycles unless extenuation circumstances are demonstrated.

1. Any ballot boxes or storage discovered two days after election, or mail-in cut-off date, will be investigated by the state and federal authorities as potential fraud including review of chain of custody.

1. DOJ and DHS have authority to request voter sign-off logs to investigate fraud or discrepancies with ballot custody.

1. State plans must specify the recount procedure and oversight, procedures for political party and independent monitoring. (I would leave recount and runoff thresholds to the states.)

I could think of a few more and some of the above would need more debate and some may not be practical, just ideas for citizens to consider. Having read the election laws numerous times doing research, feel 42 USC Chapter 146 and 52 USC Subtitle I Voting Rights need a drastic overhaul and more detail to be effect as national election and voting standards. Other laws may also need revision but those are the one I concentrated on.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns.aspx

https://www.justice.gov/crt/chapter-146-election-administration-improvement

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/subtitle-I

>>3919401

1. National voter registration identification and resideny standard should be similar 42 USC Ch 146 Sec 14583 for mail-in registration which does specify ID when first time voting or issue provisional ballot and 1 week to provide residency proof as specified in the existing law. All voter registration methods should be fair and equal in their requirements, consistent nationwide.