To the editor:
I was once a controller of a foreign subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company and my wife is a retired CPA who specialized in auditing. We have talked at length about the potential fraud in this last election.
While our voting system certainly invites fraud, we doubt that anyone will ever really know the extent of it in this election. It does, however, point to the need for electoral and political reform.
Many professions have a code of ethics and all major corporations have systems of internal controls. Our government seems to ignore ethics and bypass internal controls. This is amazing given that they control $ trillions of taxpayers’ money.
A good start would be to establish a standardized, enforceable code of ethics for all elected officials, including all business connections or other possible sources of conflict of interest. Any official involved in any conflict should not be able to vote or influence any action involving the source of the conflict. Tax returns and a statement of net worth should be required as a condition of running for office.
I’m in favor of going back to paper ballots filed manually by each voter. This is easier to control. Any system used should be standardized for the national election and customized for local state elections. A computerized system should have a server in each state and be audited and approved by a bipartisan group of experts before the election with a follow-up study to determine if it worked as anticipated.
Mail-in ballots should be sent only by request and returned prior to the general election with a copy of a valid ID. These ballots should be sent to each county clerk exclusively and opened and tallied by county staff before the general election. Envelopes and IDs should be retained for possible audit.
Voter ID must be required at all polls with bipartisan watchers. Votes should be collected at each voting precinct, transmitted to the State and summarized and certified by a bipartisan group at the state level. Certifying false information should be a felony.
Term limits should be established for each member of congress to discourage establishing long-term political alliances (machines).
Age limits should be established to help ensure both a connectivity to current events and mental capacity.
Campaign money and amounts spent for lobbying must be transparent, reduced to reasonable amounts and strictly enforced.
IRS audits of the president, vice president, each cabinet member and each member of congress should be performed in random years at least twice while each person is in office.
An annual independent audit of each agency in the federal government should be required while a review of the electoral college to establish equity for all regions of our country initiated.
Voter fraud has been going on in our country for a very long time. I am old enough to remember the Pendergast machine in Kansas City, the control of the Daleys in Chicago and have read about the corruption and power of Boss Tweed’s organization in New York. These are just a few examples of the corruption that has existed for many years in our country. Unfortunately, it seems to be increasing.
It is particularly frightening that one political party controls much of the major media, teachers’ unions, institutions of higher education and organizations such as BLM; resulting in fake and misleading news, indoctrination of our youth, conflict and confusion among our citizens and personal intimidation. In the past, in other countries, these things have led to anarchy and fascism. We definitely need wide-spread reforms.
Our way of life depends on it.
Don McCullough
Manhattan
