Election Integrity & the State of our Democracy

Youtube Podcast version: https://youtu.be/ZQjShwDQwL8

I have been thinking a lot about the democratic process. Contrary to what the mainstream media would like for me to believe, I don’t think Donald Trump is being a dictator. I know there is a lot of bias but please hear me out. He is not refusing to leave the White House forever nor is he required to concede at this point in time. He has not done anything unconstitutional and is well within his legal rights to contest any and all election irregularities. It’s important to get away from the word “fraud” and focus on the information presented regarding improprieties, irregularities, anomalies and the legal process. 

It is a common practice in history that the associated press (aka media) covers election day results based on the input from each state’s election database. The media can *project* their totals and can *project* a winner, however there is a legal process that follows. When the media “calls” an election that is simply a modern day tradition however it doesn’t mean their projections are always accurate. It’s similar to sportsball commentators calling a play, then having the referee make the ultimate decision. Look back at the Bush v Gore election when the media projected Gore winning then later moved it back to Bush. Gore called and conceded based on the media’s projections but then called back after 30 minutes and retracted his concession. It took 36 days of recounts & litigation and 35 days for Gore to officially concede. Ultimately going to the Supreme Court for the final decision. In most cases the margins are clear and the losing opponent will contact the winner to concede. This is a gesture in which case the loser is acknowledging they have been defeated and says they are not going to contest the results. Concession is not a requirement prior to certification.

In the case of the 2020 election, the media called a few states too early giving the illusion that Biden was winning when there was still much to be counted. It’s worth noting that the media has been swaying the public perception all year. Some could argue they have been doing it much, much longer. They have been horribly wrong with inaccurate polling over the last 2 election cycles. In 2016 poll after poll suggested Hillary had a 90% chance of winning. In 2020 they said Biden had the same chance of winning. This is a way of social manipulation and has been understood that uninformed or undecided voters usually lean towards the candidate leading the polls because as human nature and psychology tells us; people don’t like to be wrong. We want to be on the winning team. The legacy media’s narrative has been painting a picture for their audience that is not based in fact but rather based in ideologies or opinions. 

In the case that an election is too close to call with thin margins each candidate has a legal right to follow the democratic process. Each state has their own laws and the federal constitution supersedes the state. Once the states finish their count they must have the results certified by their states election officials. This has not happened yet in any state for a number of reasons: 

For starters, this years’ voting process has been significantly altered in respect to Covid safety measures. Many states implemented mass mail out voting for the first time in history. “Mass mail out” is very different from “absentee” ballots. Mass mail out means that ballots were mailed to anyone who had previously been on the counties voter registration – not verifying whether the person still lived there, was still alive or even wanted the ballot. Absentee has a verification process where you must request the ballot, then they verify your identity and mail it to you and then you mail it back. Additionally some states extended the ballot deadline allowing more time for mail to arrive and be processed. Certain protocols were established to protect the integrity of the count like requiring post marked dates/deadlines on the envelope to be valid, requiring software with 40% signature verification accuracy, requiring witnesses on the returned ballots including addresses and signatures etc etc. 

Despite what the media tells you, there have been many anomalies, irregularities and improprieties in many key states where the margins are too close to determine the winner. Each campaign has the legal right and obligation to their supporters to challenge anything they deem inappropriate. Challenging this doesn’t mean they will win or that it will make a big enough difference in the vote count to swing the election, however it is a matter of public trust and election integrity that must be upheld so if there are any pending litigations they must be taken seriously and investigated. In the case that the projected loser does not concede, such as now, then the projected winner should NOT claim victory. Doing this could put our national security at risk and it undermines the process. Some have argued that Joe Biden meeting with foreign leaders while not having officially won the election may have broken the Logan Act. 

I have compiled a comprehensive list of existing challenges we are facing as a nation and to the best of my knowledge have left out those which have been dismissed:

Pennsylvania:

• A margin of <.5%  would mean an automatic recount is triggered. The current margin is .7% not all counting is complete and pending litigations could swing the vote. 
• A Pending lawsuit against the Secretary of State, Kathy Bookvar, and 7 county boards of election alleging that the Pennsylvania election process violated the constitution by not verifying votes equally and treating Democrats and Republicans differently. The lawsuit claims that there were different standards of verification and transparency between mail in and in person votes and that GOP observers were not allowed to review over 65,000 ballot counts in key counties that they were legally entitled to. The lawsuit also includes a postal worker from Erie County who claimed that he had heard his supervisors talking about illegally backdating ballots that arrived late so that they appeared legitimate. 
• A Pending case against the Montgomery  County Board of Elections to stop counting mail-in ballots that do not comply with the election requirements. The lawsuit alleges that election officials were counting ballots in which the outer declaration envelope was not completely filled in with voters’ signature, address, and date. The campaign identified 600 ballots, at the time of the filing, that did not meet such requirements. Other allegations are that the Montgomery Board of Elections violated the state’s election code by inspecting ballots early in an attempt to “cure” ballots and contacting some but not all defective ballots. 
• Trump won a lawsuit against Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Kathy Boockvar and 67 counties to follow an earlier deadline for voters to provide missing proof of identification if not provided on their initial ballot. Boockvar issued election guidance that extended the Nov. 9 deadline by three days, the lawsuit states. A Pennsylvania judge on Nov. 5 ordered all counties to segregate ballots received between Nov. 10 and Nov. 12 for which missing identification was received from ballots verified on or before Nov. 9.
• Analysis of the states database shows more than 23,000 absentee ballots have a return date earlier than the date they were sent out. 86,000 absentee ballots were returned the same day they were sent out – a timescale that raises questions over plausibility. Additional Data Analysis is being consolidated in order to complete a more exhaustive Benford’s Law analysis across multiple states.
• Pending lawsuit in a Federal Court seeking an injunction that blocks the state from certifying the results of the 2020 General Election. 
• In May, Pennsylvania election officials admitted that duplicate ballots were mailed out to registered voters. Likewise, Judicial Watch sued Pennsylvania for allegedly having 800,000 inactive voters on their state voter rolls. The lawsuit alleges that there are at least 21,000 dead people on Pennsylvania’s voter rolls and that Pennsylvania failed to “reasonably maintain” their voter registration records under federal and state law in time for the 2020 presidential election.

Michigan 

• A pending Detroit lawsuit filed by Great Lakes Justice Center including 235 pages with 100 sworn witness affidavits alleging election fraud in Wayne county. Allegations include batches of ballots with the same signature, ballots with no voter record, ballots run through the software multiple times, ballot watchers coaching voters to vote, accepting late ballots and discrimination against GOP observers not allowed to review ballots alongside being harassed or pushed out of the way. 
• A 2nd Pending lawsuit in district court seeks a review of the Dominion voting software that found a glitch causing 6,000 votes to move from Trump to Biden. The software was used in 30 other states and an investigation is requested to insure the glitch didn’t happen in other counties. Notable mention: This software has close financial ties to the Clinton’s and Pelosi.
• Data Analysis found 9,500 confirmed dead voters and nearly 2,000 more who are 100 years old or more and aren’t listed as known living centenarians.
• Investigations are underway and these litigations are requesting that Detroit saves all voting data and holds off on the states certification or formally recognizing the states numbers. 
• Lawsuit filed by voters against Governor Whitmer requesting relief from voters in counties that violated equal protection rights by election officials. 

Wisconsin 

• Biden has 49.5 percent of the vote, while Trump has 48.9 percent. A trailing candidate is allowed to seek a recount under state law if the margin of a race is within 1 percentage point. Recount is underway.
• Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos directed the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections and its chair to “immediately review how the election was administered,” citing concerns of mail-in ballot dumps and voting fraud.

Arizona

• This state was irresponsibly called too early by the media and has since been retracted by several press outlets. With Biden leading by 13,000 votes and a remaining 46,000 votes left to count as of November 11th the margin is .39%. If the final margin falls between .10% an automatic recount is triggered. 
• The Trump campaign and the RNC filed a lawsuit over rejected votes in Maricopa County. The pending lawsuit alleges in-person votes were disregarded as a result of improper guidance provided by poll workers. 

Nevada 

• The Nevada Republican Party announced that its lawyers have sent Barr a criminal referral alleging at least 3,062 cases of voter fraud in the state. The party alleged that after cross-referencing more than 60 pages of voter records with the National Change of Address database they found at least “3,062 individuals who appear to have improperly cast mail ballots in the election.”

Georgia 

• The margin between candidates is .3 percent. A candidate can request a recount under Georgia law if the final count is within .5 percent. The recount will now be done by hand. The audit must be completed by the Nov. 20 deadline for certification, though Georgia law allows a superior court judge to move the deadline if needed: 
• A glitch-prone voting software under investigation called Dominion Voting Systems was used in all 159 Georgia counties.

Texas

• Social worker charged with 134 counts of voter fraud.

Nationwide

• Five states face federal lawsuits due to inaccurate voter registration. 
• In 353 U.S. counties and 29 States registration rates exceed 100% of the adult population, meaning there are more voter registrations on file than the total voting-age population.
• Earlier this year 84,000 Votes were disqualified in NYC primaries. That is 21% of all mail in ballots.  
• California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Michigan also reported duplicate ballots sent out during their 2020 Primary elections. 
• Attorney General William Barr authorized the Justice Department to probe “substantial allegations” of “voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections.”

As we know the law states “innocent until proven guilty” and the burden of proof is on the accuser. Some of these cases may be thrown out but each of them deserves to be taken seriously. I did my best to include links to all the cases and claims and only included active/pending cases as of Nov 13th 2020. The courts will be the ones to review all evidence and determine the outcomes. 

A sworn affidavit is when a person swears under the penalty of perjury that they have witnessed something. The implications of lying under oath could constitute fines and/or prison. Although it’s entirely possible someone would be willing to lie, they are also putting their name and reputation on the line therefore their claim must be taken seriously and investigated. 

Accusations of media censorship are growing. One commentator said the other day that he wouldn’t show the audience what Donald Trump was saying because he was making “false allegations”. However there is no such thing as a “false allegation” as the word allegation means: “An assertion that someone has done something wrong, often without proof.” The role of the media is to show the reasons of both sides and to let the viewers judge and make their own decisions, not to impose or dictate viewpoints to the public. 

In order to win the presidency, a candidate must have 270 electoral college votes. State legislatures ultimately choose the electors through the certification process. Currently no states have been certified. Pending all the legal challenges or recounts that may prevent certification in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin the current electoral provisions are Joe Biden 233 vs Trump 232. Each state has until December 8th to complete necessary litigations & disputes in order to certify their state. In the case that certification is unable to meet the deadline causing neither candidate to reach 270 electoral votes, the electoral vote is determined by the house delegation on December 14th in which case Republicans carry a house majority of 26 vs 21 (pending 3 undetermined seats). 

Final thought by the author

Nothing within this article is meant to be taken as official nor is my intention to prove anything. I am not a lawyer nor am I a politician. I am merely a concerned citizen who prefers to do my own investigative journalism rather than be spoon fed by the media. I have personally read every single document and case that I’ve included alongside cross referencing dates and details. I believe that is what a good journalist should do.  My intention for writing this piece was to explain how the process works, where we are in the process and what hurdles we face. The outcome of the 2020 election is still undetermined, however it will certainly change the way we conduct future elections. It is my fundamental belief that the only way to assure society that we have free & fair elections is to investigate all claims. The chain of command was broken when new rules were set in place to accommodate the “new world” safety measures. Now we are left to pick up the pieces and clarify the state laws as guided by the constitution. It is not about which candidate wins this election, it’s about the integrity of this and every future election. I would hope that any freedom loving American who believes in the rule of law would be dedicated to this cause regardless of the outcome.