Politics
Why the “Voter Empowerment Act” is actually the “Voter Fraud Act” in reality
Basically a good idea, but not with today’s technology and data
Internal inconsistencies, privacy laws and current technology prevent this bill from being viable — today. Illegal Aliens ARE NOT granted voting rights.
I received this picture post, without the yellow headline, over Facebook stating that the bill gave illegal aliens the right to vote. I wondered if the headline was at all accurate. So, I downloaded the bill, 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1, and read through the entire 570 pages with special attention on voting eligibility and procedures. It is a good idea, but not at this time and not as written. Most of the hype is scare tactics. However, nobody has even touched on the real scary aspects of this bill — conflicts inside the bill and implementation.
You may download the bill. I have included the page numbers in my highlighted quotes. The Finance and Ethics sections were not analyzed.
First, the hype
- “Illegal aliens voting in America.” They are allowed to vote in some local elections, but I could find nothing in the bill that allowed them to vote in federal elections.
- “This is a Socialist plot.” I find it hard to connect this voting bill with Socialism. Some people, right and left, tend to assign anything that they don’t agree with to their favorite scapegoat.
Key Areas in the Bill
Responsibility shift Under current law, you have to register to vote and do so by a deadline set by each state. You may need to bring your voter’s registration card to vote. The new law states:
(B) it is the responsibility of the State and Federal Governments to ensure that every eligible citizen is registered to vote; (page 34)
The citizen is no longer responsible to use their own initiative to register to vote. You hope that the Federal Government functions properly so that you can vote.
The state, however, must provide a way for voters to register themselves just in case the automated systems fail. The new law states:
(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR ONLINE REGISTRATION A State shall accept an online voter registration application provided by an individual (page 17)
Even though methods are spelled out, current technology has no way to guarantee that the person registering online is the voter.
Age shift Currently, the logic is that if you are old enough for the military, you should be able to vote. That is 18 years of age. The new law has a section that states:
TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE (page 39)
Automatic registration applies at age 16, not 18. There may be a future intent to lower the voting age. If so, the infrastructure would be in place to just flip a switch.
New burden on institutions There is a large amount of data collection and reporting procedures that may not exist today in the form required. The new law states:
(A) REQUIRING STATES TO ESTABLISH AND OPERATE AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM (page 35)
Each institution of higher education that receives Federal funds shall be treated as a contributing agency (page 47)
All colleges and universities must send personal data of students for automatic registration. This puts a new burden on states and universities to collect the data, keep it secure, and send it in a form acceptable.
Same day registration Currently, voters must register early enough so that election officials can compile voter lists for polling places. That does put some burden on voters who move during that time or neglect to register. The new law states:
…election official at the polling pace for any such election shall permit the individual to (1) update… (2) correct any incorrect information (page 58)
SEC. 304. SAME-DAY REGISTRATION (section starts on page 65)
Voters can change their address and personal information at the poll on Election Day without any challenge or way to check (wide open for fraud).
Verification becomes illegal Currently, it is difficult enough to confirm voter eligibility between districts. The new law makes it impossible. The new law states:
… interstate cross-check (b) REQUIRING COMPLETION OF CROSS-CHECKS NOT LATER THAN 6 MONTHS PRIOR TO ELECTION (page 68)
People can register the day of the election but states are not allowed to check with other states within 6 months of the election.
Purging rolls States have really tried to validate voter rolls. Some do that by mailing a card to the voter and removing the voter if the card is returned as undeliverable. This is now known as “Caging.” The new law states:
VOTER CAGING AND OTHER QUESTIONABLE CHALLENGES PROHIBITED:
(A) a nonforwardable document that is returned to the sender (page 92)
Of course, if the voter’s address is the court house, like about 70 people in one city, they would be returned. Also, who defines “Questionable”?
The REAL problem:
Implementation! The law requires that states, counties, cities and universities all build computer systems to automatically register voters from their records. The voter may not even know that they are registered, although the law contains sections for additional software to send notifications. The writers of the bill have no idea what that means. They are no better than Trump who thinks that they can wave their hand and expect the world to change. Both are clueless in that respect.
The law is supposed to go into effect in 2020. A huge mega-system needs to be built, probably more complex than Facebook. Look at the problems that they have had. Then each entity has to build its part to feed it. The complexity behind audits and recounts will make the hanging chad controversy seem trivial.
I have built over 100 systems (apps for younger people). I learned after the second one to add “Post implementation adjustments” at the end of my estimates. Those are bugs and things that people do that I never dreamed of. We had to fix immediately. I had time included for unexpected fixes. The new law has no provision for a parallel test or enough time to build the software itself. They did include costs, though. Most likely, they would need to run a parallel in 2022 or 2024 and install everything in time for the 2028 election. It will not be built in one year! This is one application that should not be rushed due to the high risks.
The security will be horrible. Hackers of every persuasion will attack it to change data or steal identities. It will be a target for entire governments. The security industry is barely keeping up. My latest catalogue contained 15 one-week classes costing over $90,000 just to stay current. Security will be an ongoing cost to everybody.
Finally, how does an election official know that you are you? How is security going to keep someone from doing an instant registration in two different locations? Mexico City and Peru require government issued picture ID’s. In fact, Peru requires that a person vote or they will be fined. The new law does not provide for anything like that.
Conclusion
I suspect that the U.S. will go to full online voting at some time in the future when a person’s identity can be easily confirmed. We already have rudimentary technology that can read fingerprints at the border for Global Entry.
Online voting probably shouldn’t happen until everybody’s fingerprints and DNA are registered and simple technology, like cell phones, can read them.
