"Other changes sought by the Coalition - include curbside voting for all ("Think of it as a kind of Sonic Drive-In form of voting"), personal protective equipment for poll workers, masks for voters and other demands which, remarkably, have not yet already been enacted by the state. ... a useful template for voters in other states who may wish to hold officials accountable for doing the right thing, as more than 20 states still have upcoming primaries and all 50 will somehow have to figure out a way to hold safe elections this November.“
-Have drive-up voting facility where you vote in your car on paper ballot.
https://twitter.com/MarilynRMarks1/status/1252417261182185472
Coronavirus 'Math and Reality' and Georgia Sued Over Elections (Again): 'BradCast' 4/21/2020
Guest: Marilyn Marks of Coalition for Good Governance
On today's BradCast: Desperate to salvage Donald Trump's re-election chances, the White House and several GOP Governors are apparently now set on putting hundreds of thousands of Americans in their own states at grave risk. …
But, speaking of politics in Georgia, voters soon to be at risk anew from the coronavirus under Kemp's dangerous new political scheme, are figuring out how to (literally) survive the state's upcoming primary elections now rescheduled for June 9th. That, after troubling (if predictable) data has begun to emerge from the state of Wisconsin, which held in-person elections two weeks ago after being forced to do so by the Republicans in their state legislature and on both the state and U.S. Supreme Courts. According to Milwaukee's Health Commissioner, at least 7 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed as having been tied to the state's April 7th election, with only 30% of the data so far reviewed following the two week incubation period for the virus. Six voters and one poll worker, to date, are known to have become infected after voters were forced to wait on hours-long lines and crowd into just 5 polling places in the city which usually offers 182 locations.
Late on Monday, our guest today, MARILYN MARKS of the Coalition for Good Governance, announced the filing of a 132-page federal lawsuit [PDF] against Georgia's Secretary of State which, she quips, could have been filed as just one page reading: "Don't be Wisconsin!”
In fact, the complaint includes more than 30 demands sought by the group to help ensure safety for the Peach State's voters during the primary. The complaint seeks to move the election from its currently scheduled June 9th date to June 30th in order to buy three more weeks of time in hopes of seeing the state's infection numbers come down. "Given the foolishness and recklessness that [Kemp] engaged in yesterday," she tells me, "it is probably now even more importsnt to get that additional time to get more preparations." The June 9th date was already a replacement date after the state's initially-planned vote on April 28 was postponed due to the crisis.
The suit also seeks to force Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger to send absentee ballot request forms to 625,000 registered voters to whom he previously sent them to the wrong addresses, and to allow counties to use hand-marked paper ballots if they choose in order to avoid dangerous new touchscreen voting systems mandated across the state, despite the devices having become a vector for spreading disease during a pandemic. "It really doesn't take an epidemiologist to tell us that viruses are going to travel on those machines," Marks argues. It's not only the voting machines themselves, when using touchscreens, that presents a health hazard, as this graphic she posted last night on Twitter makes very clear.
Other changes sought by the Coalition --- which has successfully sued the state in the past to decertify touchscreen voting systems and prevent the rejection of absentee ballots, among other things --- include curbside voting for all ("Think of it as a kind of Sonic Drive-In form of voting"), personal protective equipment for poll workers, masks for voters and other demands which, remarkably, have not yet already been enacted by the state. The list of changes sought in the complaint also provides a useful template for voters in other states who may wish to hold officials accountable for doing the right thing, as more than 20 states still have upcoming primaries and all 50 will somehow have to figure out a way to hold safe elections this November.
"Look at Wisconsin," Marks reminds us. "They didn't start getting serious until it was too late. We're not seeing these kind of changes take place in other states as fast as we should. States should be enacting these things now.”
(By the way, keep an eye out for Marilyn in HBO's disturbing new documentary Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America's Elections! You can watch it for free on HBO's YouTube channel through the end of May right here. .
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/green-news-report/kpfk-bradcast-w-brad-friedman
Summary of Changes Sought by Coalition for Good Governance Lawsuit Georgia
Changes would be in effect through the 2020 election cycle, unless lifted earlier by the Court if no longer required.
Many of the changes would be permissive---at the option of the county if in their opinion the change improves health and safety of running the elections without undermining security. If the proposed change is optional, that is noted below.
General
1. Move election to June 30. Keep runoff on August 11. (UOCAVA ballots are manageable.)
2. March 24 Ballots received after March 24 should count and not be cancelled if voter did not return a June ballot with the March races on it. (Sec. of State. has instructed that such ballots should be cancelled.)
In-person voting
1. Do not use BMD touchscreens and associated touch-intensive voting system equipment. Hand marked paper ballots (preferably in envelopes) and disposable pens should be used.
2. PPE to be required and supplied by state for poll workers.
3. Masks required for in-person voters, supplied by State for voters without their own mask
4. Minimum 6 foot distances between voters required in polling place lines inside and outside. Distances must be marked off.
5. Issue mail ballots in person at voter request at all early voting polling places in addition to central office mail ballot application processes.
6. County option—may operate a Vote Center model (any eligible voter in county may vote at any polling place) through Election Day if updated pollbook can be securely maintained.
7. County option—early voting may operate through the weekend and Monday preceding Election Day if updated pollbook can be securely maintained.
8. County option—early voting locations may open as soon as an adequate supply of paper ballots is available.
9. Curbside voting—All counties must have at least one “drive up” or “curbside” voting location during early voting and on Election Day. Counties with over 100,000 registered voters must have 1 additional curbside/drive-up voting site for every 100,000 voters or fraction thereof.
10. County option--Pop-up Mobile Voting locations can be operated from official county vehicles to issue and accept mail absentee ballots with proper controls.
11.County option—Paper ballots can be counted by scanners at polling places or with high volume scanners in the central office after collection in secure boxes at polling places.
12. County option—Use of PollPads should be optional if less touch-intensive laptop pollbook is accurate and secure.
13. Electronic pollbooks must be accurate and backed up with paper record in case of failure or discrepancies.
14. Voters need not sign the voter certificate but may take oral oaths.
15.Voter option—Can bring a legible disposable paper copy of their photo id rather than pollworker handling i.d. card.
16. Pollworkers to work behind clear plastic barriers to issue ballots and assist voters. State to reimburse cost of barriers.
Absentee Mail Ballot Voting
1. Secretary of State should mail applications to the voters having a different mailing address in voter registration whose ballot applications were sent to their residential address.
2. Secretary of State should correct the MVP records to reflect accurate mail ballot issuance dates, and application dates.
3. Voters should be permitted to return completed mail ballots at any polling place, present their identification, and have the ballot accepted for counting, without the risk of signature rejection or postal delays.
4. All 2020 mail ballot applicants should be permitted to make a one-time application for mail ballots for all elections for the remainder of the election cycle.
5. As soon as printed ballots are available, voters should be permitted to obtain mail ballots at the offices of the absentee ballot clerks to reduce wait times, polling place crowds, and officials’ administrative workload.
6. County option-- Absentee ballot clerks in any polling location should be authorized to securely issue mail ballot packets to the voter and determine and document his or her eligibility at the time of issuance by referencing the voters’ photo identification.
7. Absentee mail ballots post-marked no later than Election Day and received up to three days after Election Day should be accepted as timely cast. Additionally, ballots arriving by mail on the day after Election Day without a postmark should be accepted as timely cast.
8. Absentee ballots cast by voters covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Voting Act (“UOCAVA”) should be accepted as timely received if the ballot arrives prior to the final day for the superintendent’s certification of election results, which is the second Friday following the election.
9. Voters should be permitted to present their affidavit to cure discrepant signatures or provisional ballots prior to the final day for the superintendent’s election results certification, which is the second Friday following the election.
10. County option--Election office scanning of mail ballots should be authorized to begin on 7 am Monday prior to Election Day, but no tabulations (partial or complete) should permitted until the county polls have closed on Election Day.
11. County option—mail ballot opening and preparation for scanning may begin upon receipt. ( Inadvertently omitted from complaint and will be added.)
12. The majority of a county-level bi-partisan review panel should approve the rejection of any mail ballot signature prior to notifying the voter for signature curing.
13. The Secretary should require all counties to participate in the Secretary’s daily public reporting of early voting and mail ballot voting including signature rejection processing to assist voters and candidates in monitoring ballot acceptance progress.
14. Authorized poll watcher and public observation protocols should be established for oversight and voter protection for all mail ballot issuance, acceptance, and tabulation operations.
Marilyn Marks
Coalition for Good Governance
April 21, 2020
Marilyn@USCGG.org
704 292 9802