Few elements of democracy are as important as free elections. The belief that the election process can be trusted to be expertly managed, and fair is at the heart of our governing process. Trusting the voting process ensures belief that our political leadership was indeed chosen by the participating voters.
Lately, it seems that every major election has been challenged, with calls for recounts or audits to prove the integrity of the vote. The best-known call for audits came from Republicans after the last presidential vote. Democrat Stacey Abrams has not conceded her loss in the Georgia governor race since 2018. Today we are hearing calls for an election audit here in Chester County.
One reason why voters are critical of the modern election system is that it is more complex than in the past. People trust what they can observe. Going into a well-managed polling station and casting their vote, then seeing a single posted result, often within hours of the polls closing. Absentee voting was rare and had little impact on major elections. As mail-in and drop box voting became a larger part of the results, officials must pay attention to dates votes are received, drop boxes need to be watched and carefully emptied. This is only the 2nd time this type of mail-in ballot was used. Unlike in-person votes, this examination takes place without the voter being present.
To make matters worse, Chester County experienced problems with damaged ballots, and a bag full of ballots was discovered uncounted, requiring an update. This year, the Libertarian Party of Chester County had both poll watchers and an official Ballot Observer designated by the county. Based on our observations, we have concluded that the process is overdue for improvement of integrity.
We do not see evidence of malfeasance in the reporting process. We do, however, believe that the county has not kept pace with the rapidly changing voting methods. At our recent business meeting, several of our members pointed out that every public company is required to have a forensic audit conducted by an independent accounting firm on a regular basis. The reason for this audit is to provide assurance to the shareholders that the numbers being reported to them are accurate. In Chester County, the voters are the shareholders in a very real sense. Our tax dollars fund the election process, and we deserve to know that the numbers being reported can be trusted.
We are pleased that we have won elected offices in Chester County this November, and we are proud of the respectable showing of candidates who did not win. Any audit or recount will not change our results, Chester County Libertarians will not win any election because of a review of the ballot process. Our interest in an audit is to ensure that every Chester County voter can trust the reported numbers. The county also needs to update their process to be able to accurately manage the changing voting methods. Communication to voters needs improvement. Lack of transparency causes speculation in place of facts.
One of the county supervisors recently stated that they had no idea what a forensic audit was. Perhaps the official was being flippant, or maybe they really do not understand the basics of ensuring numeric accuracy. Either way, this is a sad admission for someone charged with administering good government. The LPCC calls for a tri-partisan “post-mortem analysis” to include recommendations on improving the process. The voters need to have confidence in every election, this year, and future elections.
There will be a cost to doing this, but the cost of voter trust in the ballot process is one of the few government expenditures that we fully support. Conduct an audit, not only of the current election but of our ballot handling and county process. Not doing the right thing now will only ensure lack of trust in our elections, and constant challenges to a process that should be the gold standard of democracy.