Election Administration at State and Local Levels According to the National Conference of State  LegislaturesNNational Conference 

[This givess you an idea of the complexity of election administration throughout the States.]

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Definition of Ballot Trafficking/Harvesting:

Ballot trafficking is an activity in which absentee ballots and votes are solicited, sometimes in exchange for money or other valuables. They are then collected through a process called “harvesting” and delivered to drop boxes by intermediaries (someone other than the voter), who are often paid a per-ballot fee by partisan actors.

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Here are some of the sections of the Virginia Code Related to Ballot Fraud, Handling, Tampering.

24.2-707. How ballots marked and returned by mail. [Absentee voting] "On receipt of a mailed absentee ballot, the voter shall, in the presence of a witness, (i) open the sealed envelope marked 'ballot within' and (ii) mark and refold the ballot . . . without assistance and without making know how he marked the ballot . . ."

  "After the voter has marked his absentee ballot, he shall (a) enclose the ballot in the envelope provided for that purpose, (b) seal that envelope, (c) fill in and sign the statement printed on the back of the envelope in the presence of a witness, who shall sign the same envelope, (d) enclose the ballot envelope and any required assistance form within the envelope directed to the general registrar, and (e) seal that envelope and mail it to the office of the general registrar or deliver it personally to the general registrar. . . . For the purposes of this chapter, 'mail' shall include delivery by a commercial delivery service, but shal not include delivery by a personal courier service or another individual except as provided by Section 24.2-703.2 and 24.2-705." [Emphasis added]

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24.2-1004. Illegal voting and registrations. "A. Any person who wrongfully deposits a ballot in the ballot container or case a vote on voting equipment, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor." [Voting more than once, being registered in more than one location, state, territory]

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24.2-1005. Bribery, intimidation, etc., of person receiving ballot

24.2-1005.1 Communication of false information to registered voter. [impeding a voter to vote]

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24l.2-1007 Soliciting or accepting bribe to influence or procure vote. "No person shall solicit or accept directly or indirectly any money or any thing of value to influence his or another's vote in any election. Any person vilating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This section applies to any election and to any method used by a political party for selection of its nominees and for selection of delgates to its conventions and meetings."

24.2-1008. Selling, giving away, or counterfeiting ballots. "Any person who (i) wrongfully sells or gives to any person an official ballot or copy of a facsimile of or device or plate used to reproduce such ballot or (ii) counterfeits or attempts to counterfeit the official ballot or the seal used on that ballot shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony."

24.2-1009. Stealing or tampering with ballot containers, voting or registration equipment, software, records or documents.

24.2-1012. Offenses as to absentee voters. [violation of absentee voting procedures, fraudulently signing the name of an absentee voter]

24.2-1015. Conspiracy against rights of citizens under this title.

24.2-1019 Complaints and allegation concerning election law offenses.

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A National Election in the United States is really 51 ( including the District of Columbia)  separate state elections directed by each state's legislature (or D.C. government) that together produce a national election result.  Each state selects its electors under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. What emerged in 2020 were basic issues of election integrity in certain jurisdictions or for specific processes in state elections. 

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Virginia Election Integrity Actions

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The Rockingham County Republican Committee had a representative for the accuracy testing of voting machines in September 2021 and was present for every day of the 2021 post-election canvas on November 3,4,5, and 8, 2021. Local voter registration records were updated monthly throughout 2021.

The State of Virginia also spent $1.5 million on an election intregrity ad campaign.

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The Rockingham County Republican Committee monitored the local Risk-Limiting Audit on February 2021.  The report on statewide audit results can be found here. 

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The purpose of conducting a Risk Limiting Audit is generally to ensure the accuracy of an election BEFORE it is certified. Normally, there are three levels: polling of samples from precincts, partial recount, and full recount as necessary to ensure accuracy of the data – all done BEFORE certification. The Virginia RLA is being done several months AFTER the certification of results to ensure machine accuracy. Any errors that may be found will have no impact on the election for which ballots were sampled.

The position of the Republican Party of Virginia is that this is an ineffective exercise that wastes taxpayer money and does not accomplish any of the tasks of a Risk Limiting Audit, which is to ensure the accuracy of election results before they are certified. Why do it at this point? Well, the only possible purpose at this point is to give the appearance of accuracy of the election process and the equipment. Logic and Accuracy testing of the equipment before the election already provides a review of election machine accuracy.

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As the United States has sought to help other countries implement democratic reforms, the U.S. Agency for International Development has developed a number of resources for assisting countries with conducting elections that produce governments that have legitimate standing with its citizens. These resources include a robust toolkit as well as many examples of election processes and results which were analyzed. These are useful tools for understanding the 2020 U.S. election and making corrections for the future. Republican lawyers used these tools to challenge problematic areas.

"The most fundamental principle defining credible elections is that they must reflect the free expression of the will of the people."  - USAID

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A Guide to Elections Forensics, U.S. Agency for International Development, July 28, 2017​

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Assessing and Verifying Election Results: A Decision-Maker's Guide to Parallel Vote Tabulation and Other Tools, U.S. Agency for International Development (April 2015)

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Best Practices in Electoral Security: A Guide for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance Programming, U.S. Agency for International Development, January 2013

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Electoral Security Framework: Technical Guidance Handbook for Democracy and Governance Officers, U.S. Agency for International Development, July 2010

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Supporting Free and Fair Elections, U.S. Agency for International Development Program 

Scott Morgenstern and Andrew Green, Political Party Assessment Tool, University of Pittsburg under a grant from U.S. Agency for International Development, August 2011

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