Proposed - 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution - Election Integrity

Given the current state of our national election, it is obvious that we need to change our voting process. Hence, the proposed text for a new amendment to the Constitution is as follows: 

28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – Election Integrity

 

Election day for Federal and state level elections shall be declared a Federal holiday to facilitate voting during the voting time period.

 

a. Voters. Voting in elections is restricted to citizens of the United States. Registration for voting shall be conducted in person and closed to new registrants 30 days prior to an election. Registrants shall prove identity, residence, and proof of citizenship (e.g., passport, birth certificate) prior to being added to the voting roll. For voters unable to afford standard identification (e.g., driver’s license, passport) States shall provide identification credentials at no cost to the voter certifying identity and residence. Voter rolls shall be maintained in a manner that polling places and data collection/tabulating locations may check the validity of the voter and notate that a vote has been cast. Voter rolls shall be audited biannually to remove voters no longer eligible to vote. Failure to do so shall be considered election interference and the senior responsible authority for maintaining the voting roll shall be punished with imprisonment of 1 year and a fine of $10,000. If a voter is not physically able to vote at their designated voting location due to illness or absence, they must apply for an absentee ballot in person (or by videoteleconference if ill or unable to travel due to physical limitations) and voting authorities shall confirm that the voter is who they claim to be prior to issuing the ballot.

 

b. Influencing the voting public. Opinion and exit polls conducted in support of any election shall not be made public but shared only with the candidates. Polling information shared outside of the candidate campaigns by any person/entity shall be considered election interference and shall be punishable by 5 years imprisonment and a $50,000 fine for each instance.

 

c. Voting process. Elections shall be conducted by voting in person on election day.  Voters will vote in their assigned polling place. All polling locations shall be open and closed at the same Greenwich Mean Time to prevent states in earlier time zones affecting outcomes in later time zone states. The election day voting period shall be twelve hours. All states shall establish sufficient polling places and equipment to accommodate all registered voters within their state during the voting period. All polling locations shall have the ability to identify voters as valid and sufficient equipment and supplies to accept all valid votes without delay. Each voter shall be notated in the State’s registered voter database as having voted to prevent voting at multiple locations. All voting polling locations shall report the raw number of votes at the end of the voting time.  This raw total shall be compared to the number of votes for each candidate in each voting category. If the total number of votes for a candidate category exceeds the raw vote total, then that polling location shall be locked down and all voting materials seized and audited. All votes received after election day shall be declared null and void. All absentee ballots shall be processed/counted as they are received, but no later than election day. All states shall conclude counting of all votes no later than 24 hours from poll closure. Observers from all parties having candidates in the election shall be present while the polls are open. Any actions to prevent poll observers from observing voting activity shall be considered election interference and punished by imprisonment and fines. All voting data collection/tabulation sites shall be open to all observers of all political parties engaged in the election. Tabulation shall be public.

 

d. Election interference and vote fraud. Anyone found to have engaged in affecting the vote totals through malign activities (e.g., voting more than once, accepting invalid votes, adding invalid votes, changing existing votes, destroying votes, preventing voting and/or tabulation observation and challenges, false registration, using false identification to vote, providing compensation for voting for specific candidates, illegally voting as a felon or non-citizen) shall be guilty of voting fraud and subject to imprisonment of ten years and a fine of $100,000. Punishments dictated by this amendment will not be subject to Presidential pardon. Fines shall be indexed for inflation from the date this amendment is ratified.