It was a pleasure speaking with @kevinrkosar about the Windham, New Hampshire audit, which is prescient timing considering the release of the Arizona "audit" findings. For a side-by-side report comparing the two and their adherence to best practices, see the thread below.
1/Best practice: Have the procedures for the post-election published and finalized before beginning the audit.
Windham, NH: ✅
Cyber Ninjas Arizona: ❌
2/Best practice: ensure chain of custody procedures for election materials throughout the post-election audit process.
Windham, NH: ✅
Cyber Ninjas Arizona: ❌
3/Best practice: Have state and/or local election officials be an integral part of the post-election audit process.
Windham, NH: ✅
Cyber Ninjas Arizona: ❌
4/Best practice: Have transparent post-election audit methods and processes.
Windham, NH: ✅
Cyber Ninjas Arizona: ❌
5/Best practice: Make every effort to educate the public on their post-election audit process, as well as other processes and procedures in place to ensure the accuracy and public trust of the results.
Windham, NH: ✅
Cyber Ninjas Arizona: ❌
6/ Bottom line: The Windham, NH audit is a potential model for how to do post-elections audit well. The Cyber Ninja sham "audit" -- not so much, even if it it confirmed the legitimate #election2020 winner.
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Important reporting by @emilyrs in the run up to the #GermanElection2021. There is no reason to question the integrity of Germany's upcoming election and this piece does a nice job addressing why. A few additional thoughts. 🧵
1/Any method of voting carries risks -- whether its mail-in voting or in-person voting -- that election officials must manage. Risks to mail-in voting can be managed through various policies, procedures, and controls, many of which Germany already has.
2/Many countries, including Germany, have run successful elections during #COVID19, in part, by expanding the # of ways voters can vote. Doing this doesn't only make it safer for voters; it can also make the voting process more accessible, easier to administer and more secure.
This article is merely the latest to underscore that the reviews of various #election2020 races shouldn't be viewed in isolation. Many are part of a broader effort to undermine the legitimacy of #election2020. apnews.com/article/donald…
1/Whether it's the well-run forensic audit conducted by @WAuditors of a state representative race in NH, the abomination being conducted in Maricopa County, AZ (also known as #AZAudit), or other questionable reviews, such as those being contemplated in Fulton County, GA or WI.
2/It's important that the public understand the differences between what triggered these various reviews. For example, NH's audit arose from an actual gap in vote tallies in a race for state representative. cnn.com/2021/05/25/pol…
One well covered irony of the TX elections legislation (SB7) is that supporters cite a need to improve election security when these bills, of course, stem from the Big Lie. Another irony is that SB7's proposed changes would probably make it harder to secure future TX elections.🧵
1/One reason #election2020 was secure was because many voters had more ways to vote and a longer period of time to do so than in previous elections.
2/When voters have more voting options, election officials often find themselves serving smaller groups of voters and ballots at once than in previous elections. I know this firsthand from my experiences as a former state and local election official.
Folks across Texas, as well as across the nation, should be breathing a collective sigh of relief, but it could very well be short-lived. In the interim, efforts to bolster the integrity of our democratic elections must continue. Below are 3 ideas. washingtonpost.com/politics/texas…
1/Congress needs to establish a commission to determine what factors, such as the lies about #election2020, led to the 1/6 Capitol riots. If Congress won't act in a bipartisan or nonpartisan manner, Pres. Biden should issue an executive order establishing such a commission.
2/The DOJ should ensure it has a robust strategy in place for combatting any efforts, incl. legislative, that undermine genuine, democratic elections. Even w/o pre-clearance, it has many tools to counter such efforts and other campaigns that could undermine voter confidence.
This is an important read with one small caveat. As @AmyEGardner notes in her piece, the Anderson-Burdick balancing test is typically the framework for evaluating the general constitutionality of election procedures.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…
However, in 2020, many circuit courts of appeal, including the 5th, began treating McDonald v. Board of Election Commissioners of Chicago, not Anderson-Burdick, as the precedent for review of absentee voting rules. McDonald is more deferential, making it easier for states to win.
The 5th Circuit, for example, invoked McDonald and a more deferential "rational basis" test to uphold Texas's law limiting absentee voting to those aged 65 and older or those with specific medical conditions despite the fact that the election was conducted amid #COVID19.
1/Lindeman is as experienced as almost anyone with election audits. verifiedvoting.org/team/#mark Don't trust me? Ask the countless election officials he's worked previously with across the country.
2/Breton's choice for the town audit designee is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He's currently part of an Arizona "Audit" effort that's doing far more right now to subvert #election2020 than validate it. brennancenter.org/sites/default/…