This week there has been some rumbling about the integrity of American elections. Voter fraud is a problem, particularly in our large cities (for example–Chicago in the 1960 Presidential election). True the Vote in Houston found thousands of voters registered to one fictitious address in that city. In many states there is no proof of citizenship required to register to vote, and in California, a law has been passed allowing non-citizens to vote. I am not sure how the California law will play out, but I believe there is a constitutional problem there.

So where are we? There have been rumors of hacking into voting machines and voting machines that change votes. There have been accusations aimed at the Russians. There has been talk of Department of Homeland Security observers or even United Nations observers. Both of these are really bad ideas for one reason–either solution tens to federalize the election rather than letting local cities and communities police their elections.

One of the foundations of our representative republic is the integrity of our elections. If the Russians or other foreign entities wanted to undermine that, they wouldn’t have to do anything except cast doubt on the integrity of the election.That is something to keep in mind.

Meanwhile, the local control of elections helps protect their integrity. Local observers, judges, etc., are much more aware of the people in their communities. Not all local elections are computerized–making them impossible to hack.

Every year at midnight on election day, the voters of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire cast their ballots. In this years presidential primary, the nine votes were cast and counted quickly. It is almost impossible to interfere with a vote held on paper ballots.The fact that our elections are not federalized makes it more difficult to steal an election. Bringing in Homeland Security of the United Nations will federalize our elections and will make it easier–not harder–to compromise election integrity.