After the 2020 Presidential election there were many false claims of vote switching.
Although these claims were refuted, there is currently no way to actually
disprove them and in April, 2021 about 60% of Republicans still believe that the election was stolen from them.
Because of the rightful secrecy about voting, ballots don't
contain any information to trace them back to a voter and there is no way for a
voter to trace their vote back to the vote totals that are reported.
It's only faith in the system that allows voters to believe that their vote is actually
included in the totals shown for their candidate. For example in my county, my candidate
received about 400,000 votes but I have no way to actually know that my vote is included in that total.
To increase voters faith in the system and to easily refute vote switching claims, voters should
be able trace their vote back to the vote totals and check to see if their vote was recorded correctly. That is not currently possible but
with a few changes to the existing system, it is possible. These changes include:
Using only paper ballots or having all machines print a paper ballot or audit trail. Over 80% of Americans support paper ballots.
Including a unique serial number and password on each ballot. Ballots for my county already have a serial number.
The serial number, password and other data would be encrypted and hidden within a QR code unique to each ballot.
Adding a tear off stub to the ballot.
Including a matching encrypted QR code on the ballot and the stub (see image 1 on the screen shots page). The
QR code would be pre-printed on the ballot and would include the serial number, password, other data and a website
link but no information about the voter.
Modifying ballot scanners so that they capture the QR code and the candidate from each ballot.
Creating a "Votes" database containing only the QR code and the candidate chosen on
each ballot.
Providing a third party web page where the QR code from the stub could be scanned to show the vote recorded for that particular QR code/ballot.
The web page would also show the vote totals that the vote is included in. (see image 2 on the screen shots page
and video 2 on the videos page).
When considering this system, consider the following:
The QR code on each ballot (and stub) is unique to that ballot and is virtually impossible
to counterfeit.
The election office will not keep a record of who receives specific ballots.
A voter alleging vote switching would need to take their stub to the elections office
where it could be matched to the original ballot.
Secrecy is maintained because the elections office created "Votes" database will not contain the voter's name.
It will only contain the encrypted QR code and the candidate chosen.
See image 3 on the screen shots page.
With this system, there would millions of voter's self-auditing their recorded votes and improving the
election transparency and confidence.
The computer systems needed to provide this capability would be relatively simple
to create but still secure because the data exposed to the public would include only the QR code and
the candidate choice associated with that QR code. See image 3 on the screen shots page.
If you have any comments about this system, please leave them on the Comments page or send an email to admin {at} this website.
Check Your Vote