Molloy DSG Professional Digest

Whether an analog or digital system is used in polling a target constituency, it must be noted that the largest vulnerability exists in the procedural and delicate process of registration. Verifying registration at the table on the day of voting involves interacting directly with the constituent; this opportunity is the most direct route to undermining the trust of the constituent covertly. Distributed successful execution of this schema results in a situation where an election may be swung simply by the process of removing invalid registrants.

During a public voting event, a clerk with an in swaying an election could get away with selectively and intentionally providing false or confusing instructions on the completion of a voter registration document during the validation process that takes place prior to the constituent receiving a ballot. These instructions given would be contrary to the instructions on the document, such instructing a registered voter to partially fill in an area marked as “LEAVE THIS BLANK IF YOU ARE ALREADY REGISTERED,” or intentionally speeding the registrant through to the form directly to the signature, skipping mandatory fields. The document instructions would then be in conflict with how the form is filled out, thereby creating an invalid voter registration record.

Under order after an election has taken place, voter registration documents may be examined for authenticity. During this process, the invalid documents will be found. These documents will be seen as a valid and superceding record due to date and signature, with invalid information due to the conflict in how the form was filled out. Any votes cast by the “invalid registrant” will not ultimately be counted.

Passionate and political individuals willing to cheat for what they believe is “the common good” are easily manipulated into receiving the aforementioned instructions. Systems like these provide loopholes for malevalent actors to reap benefits. Witnesses and watchdogs must be part of the system to ensure trust and stability remain and to thwart attempts at disuse.