Ballots are official government documents. Chain of Custody rules are intended to preserve ballot integrity for 22 month after voting.
Currently, Maricopa County, Arizona is working on an historic audit of all ballots counted in the 2020 presidential election. With the help of the state senate, several independent companies were hired to do more than a complete hand recount. The process is called a forensic kinematic audit. Each company will look at a different aspect of concern: the paper, the ink, the folds of the ballots themselves, etc.
A recount counts all ballots. An audit identifies counterfeit or illegal ballots and then counts ALL LEGAL BALLOTS.
Maricopa County, by law, must maintain safe keeping of all ballots for 22 months after a general election. Some lawmakers as well as the democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs claim the audit is harmful, dangerous, unnecessary, fraudulent… but then why is there a law that protects the safe keeping and custody of the ballots if they cannot be examined?
One Person One Vote
In Arizona the law protects our right to one person one vote. You must register before the election and you must prove your identity. We also make it easy to vote with the Permanent Early Voter List. Registered voters get automatically mailed ballots every election. When a voter mails the completed ballot back the signature is verified to the signature on file.
If a voter gets a mailed ballot but prefers to vote in person, or wants a fresh ballot that voter can bring it into their voting place and get a new ballot printed for them and their specific local races. The previously mailed ballot will be ‘spoiled’ and replaced with the new one.
Paper documents are important. Auditing every election for integrity should be a regular part of our voting process. Simple recounts are not enough.
Updated June 27, 2021: At the premier of the film Deep Rig, Bob Hughs discussed Ballot and Audit Integrity.
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