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“Not to over simplify any number of many hurdles, what is wrong with this picture, as TEXAS braces for an onslaught of chicanery to turn the state into an extention of Juarez and totally Blue in the process?”

I wrote about this yesterday. The Texas Republican Party has spent money to open offices in areas with mostly Spanish people living there. If you open an office, they will come and I've seen it happen. So, there is outreach to this group of people. Also, a number of our county Republican parties have started groups of conservative Spanish teen agers lead by a Spanish adult Republican worker. We are not sitting on our thumbs as national Democrats would have you believe.

“An aging population in the cities can not stand for hours, but paid lo fo’s can. Where is the answer to just that dilemma?”

We have early voting without long lines and early voting is here to stay. I have described how early voting works up thread from this post.

“Are the ever increasing fraud & theft risks an issue to be reckoned with at all?”

At our last November general election, 2012, certain of us who knew election law were linked up on election day (I only left my chair at home to get food from kitchen or go to bathroom that whole day) and any Republican election judges, Republican alternate judges, or Republican election clerks, could call a certain number and report a problem or they could send their question by email. We would tell the person what to do if his/her report was a violation, so it could be stopped right then.

In Texas, the party of the election judge is determined by who that precinct voted in the majority for, Texas governor. If that precinct voted in the majority for the Republican Rick Perry, the judge of that precinct had to be a Republican. If that precinct voted in the majority for the Democrat candidate for governor, the judge would be a Democrat. Since Rick Perry won as governor, most precincts in Texas voted in the majority for him. What did that mean? It meant most of the election judges in that November election, were Republicans. What did that mean? It means Republican election judges don't cheat, so our elections in most precincts are run fairly. Now, if the election judge is a Republican, the alternate judge is a Democrat so both parties are at every precinct.

So, we were riding herd on election day to make sure our Texas election was fair at every precinct.

“It is disturbing to think this is as good as it gets because better is complicated.”

It is not complicated if one looks at its parts rather than jumbled together. There are laws as to how ballots are secured in early voting, in the mail in ballots, and voting machines, and on election day. You would agree we have to have laws to protect the ballots whether paper or voting machines.

There are laws to protect the voting machines so they are kept sealed once they are approved, by the election administrator, and chair of both parties, that the machine is properly working. There are laws to protect the machines on voting day so they are secure at all times. You would agree we have to protect the machines.

There are laws about how a polling place is run in order to protect the integrity of that election. The election judge must set up the perimeter outside so no campaigning is done past the perimeter signs. The election judge is responsible for keeping the machines protected, remove any machine that has “screwed up”. When the judge gets the machines that morning, both the judge and alternate judge have to check each machine to make sure they are set to zero indicating no one has messed with that machine since it was checked at the courthouse. You would agree laws have to protect voting machines.

If they are using paper ballots, the number of ballots has to be checked by the election judge to make sure it is the same number the election administrator sent as noted on a document. The sequence of the ballots has to be correct. There are laws as to where ballots are during the day and where completed ballots are kept locked up. You would agree paper ballots have to be protected for integrity of the election.

At the end of election day, the election judge and alternate judge have to secure the paper ballots or machines and the ballots and machine disks have to be documented and taken to the courthouse, followed by a sheriff or sheriff deputy so those ballots get directly to the courthouse.

Then, all ballots and machine results are delivered to central counting where the results are tabulated. They must follow Bill's Law (my husband's law), in choosing people to be in central counting and what their jobs are. You would agree laws have to be followed to fairly count ballots.

That is a brief summary, leaving out a lot (such as duties of the election administrator and laws pertaining to the Early Voting Ballot Board that processes mail ballots), of the process for voting and why we need laws to have fair elections.

If you will guarantee all voters are honest, we could shorten the process. :o)