FEDERAL OFFICIALS DO
NOT STOP ELECTION CRIMES before
or during elections. Their policy
is to investigate and they may prosecute after elections.
The Justice Department
has published Federal
Prosecution of Election Offenses in eight editions from 1976 to 2017,
under Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush and Trump. The link
compares six of the editions which are online. A nonprofit suggests state efforts
to restrain DOJ
and other
federal activity before elections.
Sentencing guidelines are too light to deter
major fraud. Election offenses start at "level" 8
to 14, which give prison terms for a first offender of
0-21 months and a $2,000-$75,000
fine. Sentences can be adjusted up or down depending on circumstances. Actual sentences
range from nothing
to 3 ½ years
Citizens can sue over discriminatory
effects, but lack standing
in court to challenge procedures which hurt everyone:
·
Courts
found that almost
no one has standing in the US to challenge results, or get evidence.
·
"Ultimately, and as our sister courts have found, a vote cast
by fraud, mailed in by the wrong person, or otherwise compromised during the
elections process has an impact on the final tally and thus on the proportional
effect of every vote, but no
single voter is specifically disadvantaged."
·
The
European "Code
of Good Practice" sets an
international standard that "All candidates and all voters registered in
the constituency concerned must be entitled to appeal." "The appeal
body must have authority in particular over such matters as the right to vote –
including electoral registers – and eligibility, the validity of candidatures,
proper observance of election campaign rules and the outcome of the
elections." "It is necessary to eliminate formalism, and so avoid
decisions of inadmissibility, especially in politically sensitive cases."
Federal officials pretend
that cyber defenses are effective, even when many states do not audit.
Federal officials also hide actual attacks and potential
for attacks:
·
Florida
registrations,
·
VR
Systems (election night reporting and voter lists),
·
Russian
ownership of election web host (Maryland Senate
President Miller said the FBI "weren't really anxious for us to come
forward" to tell the public. (2018-07-13)
·
August 2016 email
to states (pp.146-151), etc. States ignored the August and October 2016
warnings, because states are used to internet scanning; federal officials did
not say this scanning was from a nation state, and could not answer questions
(pp.49,51 of Senate
report)
Federal
law requires old election materials to be kept for 22
months (pp.75-79)
FBI explains election crimes to its agents
& the public. Each of the 56 FBI offices has an
Election Crimes Coordinator (ECC) to
·
“be on
duty while polls are open to receive complaints from the public”,
and
·
"assist
state and local election officials with any incidents related to an
election crime."
Each US Attorney's Office
has a District Election Officer (DEO) with a 2-year term, whose number is publicized locally to
hear about fraud.