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On Your Honor
Part 6 of 7
Our founding fathers had a deep understanding of human nature. Because they understood that unethical people are prone to create governments that do not respect citizens’ rights, they crafted our Constitution to protect us from our baser nature.
Elections are about many things, but at the core they are about money and power. Since those are two of the three major motivators of the negative side of human nature, it is natural to have concerns that bad actors might rig our elections if given the opportunity.
California State officials have not learned from the Founders’ wisdom. They have failed to design an electoral system with safeguards to prevent wrongdoing.
Instead, with a 25-year progression of laws that arguably smacks of intentionality, they have implemented an On Your Honor vote-by-mail system that assumes virtually everyone can be trusted.
Parts 1-5 in this article series discussed California’s “on your honor” policies of
To add insult to the above injuries, the State has transitioned from having an Election Day – established in the U.S. Constitution – to an Election Season, including….
- 29 days for voters to cast ballots before (and potentially 7 days after) Election Day and
- 30 days for officials to count the ballots after Election Day.
This extended election season
blurs the deadline for casting and counting ballots.
As a result, we no longer have a single point in time beyond which we can be assured the time for accepting ballots has conclusively ended.
In 2014 California passed SB 29, extending the ballot arrival deadline to 3 days after Election Day.
In 2020, citing that COVID made it necessary, they passed AB 860, which determined that ballots “postmarked by Election Day” may arrive up to 17 days after Election Day and be counted.
Eligibility of ballots with missing or illegible postmark
would be determined by the date provided by the voter!
In 2021 the State reduced the 2020 grace period from 17 days to a now-permanent 7 days, still without reliable verification of the date the ballot was marked.
Blurred deadlines create an open invitation for election manipulators to monitor incoming ballots and fraudulently submit additional ballots after Election Day.
This makes it possible to overturn the legitimate results, especially in contests decided by very few votes.
Individuals and organizations swayed by the temptations of power and money inherent in the political system will not think twice about exploiting the enormous loopholes provided by this deadline extension.
We know from news reports and whistleblowers that it is not difficult to:
- co-opt or bribe postal officials to post-date postmarks for late ballots.
- co-opt individuals driving for “bona-fide private mail delivery services” to deliver ballots slipped in after the official deadline.
People understand deadlines and how to meet them. You miss the movie, the plane, the bus, the train, the play, the concert if you arrive late.
You pay a penalty for late payment of bills or taxes. Business close at the established time. No grace period. And everyone understands and accepts the reasons why.
Irresponsibility has unforgiving consequences
in every arena of life
EXCEPT the California electoral process.
In the California voting system, the irresponsible individual walks in late through an open back door to avoid what should be legitimate consequences.
Such forgiveness and leniency might be tolerated EXCEPT for the amount of fraud and manipulation that most certainly sweeps in through that same, virtually unguarded, open door.
California’s naïve (or calculated?) willingness to trust without verifying has contributed
to the destruction of integrity in our elections.
Please stay tuned for our next and final article in this continuing series of On Your Honor.
pdf of article
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On Your Honor part 6 of 7
©Election Integrity Project®California, Inc. copyrighted 2023
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