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One of the major failures of mail ballot elections is that they do not provide a secret ballot as guaranteed in the Colorado Constitution, and the constitutions of most other states.

For mail ballots election officials usually now have voters insert their ballot in secrecy envelope that is then placed in an outer mailer as a result of previous complaints that ballot and mailing envelope were opened together. Thus, in the past election judges and others could readily see the voter's name and how they had voted on their ballot.

In El Paso County, Colorado, the outer envelope also now comes with a cover over the signature block as well.

But the underlying problem of a secret ballot still isn't solved.

Ballot inventory and control

The first step toward stuffing the ballot box is obtaining a ballot. Of course with mail ballot elections there are thousands and thousands of unclaimed or undeliverable ballots lying around or easily obtained by "dumpster diving."

Therefore, one of the most fundamental protections against election fraud is careful control of ballots and an inventory. Thus, each ballot is numbered with the precinct number and a ballot number, as well as ballot style and other information, usually on a removable tab at the top of the ballot.

Step 1 -Record number of ballot sent or given to voter

To ensure integrity any competent election official will record the ballot number mailed to a voter either in a mail ballot election, or as an absentee ballot.

For example, voter XXX in precinct YYY is sent ballot number ZZZ and style A (a precinct can have more than one ballot style), which is recorded in the poll book.

Step 2 - Check that voter has returned the same ballot they were sent

In a precinct election the removable tab at the top of the ballot is torn off before the ballot is put into the ballot box and precautions are taken that the ballot never leaves the precinct while in the voter's hands. As a result, in a precinct, the voter's ballot can no longer be associated with him or her, but ballot inventory and control are maintained by keeping the detached tabs and checking them against the poll book.

But with a mail ballot that tab, with the ballot number ZZZ, is still attached to the ballot that is enclosed in the secrecy envelope. And before the ballot can be counted, election officials must check that ballot ZZZ is the same one voter XXX was mailed, during which time it is usually quite obvious how the voter voted as the ballot, with the tab attached, is sitting in front of them.

Votes are not secret with mail ballot

Unfortunately, if the tab is removed from the ballot before it is put in the secrecy envelope there is then no way to ensure it is the ballot sent to voter XXX and numbered ZZZ. And with the optical scanners used to count the votes in the backroom at election central (a notoriously corrupt practice in itself), any valid ballot taken from the dumpster will be counted as the scanner can "read" all ballot styles for all precincts in the election.

Conversely, optical scanners used in a precinct can only read the ballot styles valid for that precinct if correctly programmed. And hand counting of votes in a precinct is even more secure, accurate, and reliable than optical scanners or DREs.

Or just ignore the law and Constitution

An option used by Hart Intercivic is to encode the ballot number on the ballot rather than just on a detachable tab. When the ballot is scanned that number is read and checked against the poll book electronically, which is quite convenient for county clerks, but a fundamental violation of election law and the constitutional requirement for a secret ballot.

For more information on why mail ballots are a bad idea see http://www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting-77.htm.

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