EXCLUSIVE TO THE SPOTLIGHT BY DAN GUTENKAUF

November 6, 2000

Here's what you can do to help keep the election in your precinct honest.

There are many simple steps individuals can take to help safeguard against election fraud.
Every state code has a section devoted to elections. You can obtain a copy of your state's election statutes in booklet form at the secretary of state's office for about $10-$12. Or you can find them ont the Internet by going to and clicking to state resources, cases and codes. Locate your state code and then find the section dealing with counting the votes after the polls close .
As ruled in at least two Supreme Court cases, U.S. v. Mosley and Reynolds v. Sims, the Constitution protects your right to have your vote honestly counted.
One problem is that election workers may not allow you inside the polling place after the poll closes. This is the problem my brother and I encountered four years ago on election night.
I gave the election workers a copy of Arizona revised Statute 16-601 Tally of the vote, which provides that when the polls close and after the last ballot has been cast, the election workers are to immediately count the number of ballots cast. we also cited an attorney general's opinion, which said that we had a right to be present.
The election workers ignored both the law and opinion and threatened us with arrest.
We filed a civil lawsuit in federal court and our case was dismissed at both the District and Ninth Circuit Appellate level.

The Supreme Court also denied review of our case.
But we won a significantl policy change in the election worker's training manual. They were forced to admit that we had a right to be present and videotape the counting of ballots after the polls closed.
There are two counts that take place, one at the polls and one at the central counting center. The results announced at each location must match.
Look up your state statutes, If it says the count should be public, with witnesses, photocopy the statute and present it to the election poll workers.
If your state statute does not provide for a public count of the votes after the polls close, then refer to your public records statute. Election results are public records.
Another problem you will encounter is that a computer counts your vote, and you can't see how it does so. Only the soft-ware vendor knows how the computer counts the ballots. It amounts to a secret ballot that is illegal.
Call the secretary of state's office and find out when the "computer logic and accuracy test" will be given. It is usually within seven days prior to the election day, and it's open to the press and the public.
During question-and-answer sessions, ask who programmmed the source code. If the elections director doesn't know or refuses to answer, then cite your state's public record statute.
It is also unconstitutional to prohibit you from seeing that your vote is counted honestly on election night. It is a violation of your right to peaceable assembly and peitition for redress of grievances, protected by the First Amendment.
Also video tape or audio tape conservations.with election officials. This can be used later to help make your case.
OTHER ACTIONS
Study voter registration requirements and learn the procedure for challenging an elector at the poll.
Study your state statute on intimidation of an elector.
Volunteer for your political party to do door-to-door checking of the voter registration list for your precint. Verify the current residents that have invalid addresses and deceased voters names purged.
Study the requirements and procedures for absentee balloting and attend the counting of absentee ballots.
To partaphrase a legal maxim engraved in stone on the Arizona Supreme Court building: Where the law begins, tyranny ends.
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For more information on election fraud, log on to votefraud.org.