Local Voices
Bob Malkas
In 2005 a bipartisan Commission was formed to analyze the U.S. election system and make recommendations on how to preserve election integrity for future presidential elections. Known as the Carter-Baker Commission, it was led by and named after Democrat President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State James Baker, who was a Republican and had served in the George H. W. Bush administration.
The Commission was organized as a result of a 36-day post-election battle, and it became clear some plan was needed to finalize the presidential election of 2000. The issue that had to be decided was how 25 contested electoral votes that were in question from Florida would be certified in the 2000 election of George W. Bush and Al Gore.
The decision-making responsibility was bestowed on the U.S Supreme Court, which ultimately decided to award the contested votes to Bush, and he became president.
Carter-Baker had been tasked to show what would have to be done to ensure the county would never have to deal with a similar situation. It was understood the American people had to be shown that they could have confidence in the results of future elections. They made 87 recommendations after extensive research on how to correct weaknesses in the election system of the day.
The nation should revisit Carter-Baker if they want the reasons for the chaos that has resulted after 2020. Their findings can be broken down into seven key principles.
If Carter-Baker’s recommendations had been followed in all states before the 2020 presidential election, what resulted could have been avoided. And to the nation’s shame it is still ongoing today.
Voter records show that there was a vast expansion of mail-in voting in 2020. This fact also can’t be denied.
The Carter-Baker Commission had called for voter ID standards to be established. That has not been done. In 2020, with the excuse of COVID, many states altered their election procedures. During the counting on election night trends seemed to shift dramatically as mail-in votes were counted.
Can anyone in the nation who has questions about the 2020 results make a public statement that they would oppose imposing a requirement to show a voter ID before receiving a ballot in 2022?
Mail-In and Absentee Voting — In a select group of battleground states the counting of ballots went well beyond election night, and decisions were made in some states to delay vote counts for a variety of reasons. After these delays records show that the results changed dramatically when vote counting resumed. With some deep diving research, the whole story is available online.
The trouble is people don’t want to think for themselves. It is easier to believe what the media tell you.
Also, the report calls on each state to prohibit third parties or political operatives from collecting ballots, a practice commonly known as ballot harvesting.
Another fact that can’t be refuted: Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential fraud. Carter-Baker recommended that strong safeguards be followed in the future.
Avoiding Duplicate Registration Across State Lines — The report states, “Invalid voter files which contain ineligible, duplicate, fictional, or deceased voters are an invitation to fraud.”
Election Observers for Integrity — The Carter-Baker report stressed the need for election observers to be allowed to maintain the integrity of the ballot. In battleground states officials limited observers from doing their mandated responsibilities.
The report went on to say accredited observers should be allowed to visit any polling station in any state and to view all parts of the election process, including the testing of voting equipment.
Media Calling Elections — This issue was addressed. News organizations should voluntarily refrain from projecting results in any state until all polls have closed in the 48 contiguous states, and not project results before.
Prosecuting Voter Fraud — The Carter-Baker Commission suggested that federal and state prosecutors should more aggressively monitor fraud.
In 2020 there are ample facts that establish that voting procedures were not questioned when challenged. Many suits that had were file to stifled and void many of them. Voters were told that we admit that election fraud occurred, but it wouldn’t have changed the final outcome so, forget about it. And we did!
Election irregularities were not charged in all states. If you want to find the truth you should concentrate on Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada.
Bob Malkas
Related
- From the files of Bob Malkas: Putting January 6th behind us
- Much has changed since Jimmy Carter’s report on fraud in mail voting (September 2021 article by Politifact, the Poynter Institute)
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