Voting Access and Election Administration: One Citizen, One Usable Ballot

What is broken and why it matters

What we would change

1. 1

   Register eligible citizens automatically, with an opt-out. Designated public agencies send verified eligibility data to election officials. Registration follows a voter across in-state moves, and same-day registration provides a fail-safe for errors.

2. 2

   Guarantee usable ways to vote. Federal elections must offer at least two weeks of early voting, no-excuse mail voting, accessible vote centers, and Election Day as a federal holiday. Rural, tribal, language-minority, military, overseas, and disabled voters receive equivalent, usable access.

3. 3

   Use paper evidence and risk-limiting audits. Every ballot must create a voter-verifiable paper record. Published audit rules test statistically meaningful samples before certification and escalate to a fuller count when evidence demands it.

4. 4

   Provide a cure for ballot mistakes. Election officials must notify voters promptly of fixable signature, identification, or envelope defects and provide online, phone, mail, and in-person correction methods through a uniform deadline.

5. 5

   Restore voting after incarceration. Citizenship does not depend on paying every fee or completing supervision. Voting rights return upon release from incarceration, with automatic notice and registration opportunity.

6. 6

   Make election service measurable. Congress should fund a permanent local election workforce, cybersecurity, accessible equipment, and surge capacity in exchange for public metrics on wait times, rejected ballots, equipment failures, provisional-ballot outcomes, and cure rates.

7. 7

   Protect voters and accurate rolls together. List maintenance must use reliable matching, notice, and a reversible process. Knowingly voting twice, corrupting equipment, intimidating a voter, or falsifying a ballot remains punishable through evidence and due process.