A group of former Democratic and Republican election officials held a virtual session to send a message to voters: trust the process.
Former election administrators and elected officials, including three former Secretaries of States responsible for organizing elections, reinforced the message why all voters can trust the safety, security and accuracy of U.S. elections.
They even acknowledged that on election day, prior to data disclosure, there may be sources of electoral misinformation, in addition to clarifying why candidates’ early projections or declarations of victory on election night may not coincide. with the final and verified election results.
The briefing was moderated by Issue One, where Republican Trey Grayson, former Kentucky Secretary of State, discussed security in voting systems and their certification.
“We test beforehand to make sure the systems work; and almost every state conducts an audit. Remember, at a polling place, it is your neighbors in bipartisan teams, who help organize the election and there are bipartisan teams that count the ballots in a public setting, with the media that can observe,” Grayson recalled.
The participation of Republicans in this virtual session is significant, in the midst of a strategy by former President Donald Trump’s campaign to criticize the electoral processes and ensure that there will even be massive voting by “non-citizens.”
Grayson discussed paper ballots to ensure a paper record, as well as the role of courts in resolving disputes, including recounts and race rules.
“All of this is designed to build confidence in our elections. And while the details may differ in each state, those general elements exist in all states. That is why I have confidence and voters should have confidence in these elections,” he said.
Fellow Republican Kim Wyman, former Washington Secretary of State, acknowledged that there may be attempts to interfere in the electoral process, even with the use of Artificial Intelligence, but electoral officials are trained to do so.
“Election officials have spent the last four years focused on training and planning for threats, and related response and recovery, and I believe they are ready,” he said. “Election officials are also ensuring that voters will be protected when exercising their right to vote, their staff and poll workers working the elections will be safe; and they are making sure physical property like ballots are secure as well.”
The Pennsylvania case
Democrat Kathy Boockvar, former Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, highlighted that on the night of the vote there will be no official results from the entity, unlike the projections revealed by The Associated Press in other entities.
“Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not allow election officials to begin pre-processing mail-in ballots before Election Day, which means that with millions of ballots we will not have results on election night,” said.
Pennsylvania renewed its equipment, but could also receive fewer mail-in ballots in this election, since there is no pandemic like in 2020, but the ballots will still be registered between Wednesday and Thursday.
“Most ballots will likely be counted between Wednesday night and Thursday morning this year, about a day earlier than in 2020,” he acknowledged. “However, if the race is as close or closer than in 2016 and 2020, the AP likely won’t be able to ‘call’ the race until days later, or weeks if there is a statewide recount.”
Voters asked for patience
Republican Reid Ribble, a former member of Congress from Wisconsin, asked voters for patience during the process and the counting of votes. He gave as an example that in 2020, President Joe Biden won Wisconsin with only 22,000 votes difference of the four million cast.
“It’s going to take some time to get it right, and we shouldn’t rush so much that we sacrifice accuracy and reliability for speed. “We want to be efficient and do it as quickly as possible, but we want to be sure that we do it right,” he emphasized.
Without directly referring to the theories about a failed electoral process spread by Republicans, Ribble asked not to listen to them and trust the process.
“I tell Wisconsin voters who have bought into some conspiracy theory or misinformation they’ve heard that if you don’t want to trust politicians, I understand, but what you need to do is trust these 1,850 city and county clerks who oversee that election and trust that poll worker who probably sits three rows in front of you in church on Sunday,” he said.