The Ballot Box Surveillance Is A Dangerous Overreach in Election Monitoring

This push by election denial groups marks one alarming push for wide surveillance of the ballot drop boxes and threatens privacy for voters. While it is quite important, the proposal certainly goes far beyond reasonable oversight measures and veers into dangerous territory.

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What's happening here is that groups like True the Vote, which time and again spreads conspiracy theories about voter fraud after it was debunked, are now trying to foster some sort of panopticon around the ways in which people vote.

Their stated objective of creating a "dropbox surveillance reality show" outed this for what it truly is, a voyeuristic spectacle meant to sow doubt and suspicion rather than safeguard democracy.

But what's most disturbing is the use of so-called "AI-driven cameras" livestreaming shots of voters. It would be a big privacy issue, the invocation of AI technology would seem calculated to give a veneer of high-tech legitimacy to what, in essence, is just intrusive video surveillance. We should view normalizing this kind of constant monitoring of the voting process with a great deal of suspicion, not to mention that it's instigated on behalf of groups that have a clear partisan axe to grind.

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Worse still, because the plan seeks to enlist local sheriffs for this process, it represents a perilous elision of law enforcement and election administration. Sheriffs typically do not, and should not, exercise authority over the voting process. Adding sheriffs to a partisan surveillance operation could easily be seen as voter intimidation, particularly in communities that already have tense relations with law enforcement.

The truth is, widespread voter fraud at ballot drop boxes quite simply doesn't happen at any significant level. Study after study and investigation after investigation have shown, many by Republican election officials themselves, that voter fraud is extremely rare. The 2020 Election was one of the most secure and most well-tested elections in US history. Touting that we should look to around-the-clock video monitoring of drop boxes as some sort of solution is a solution in search of a problem.

That is not to say there is no room for reasonable security measures mounted around the drop boxes. Those, however, should be instituted by non-partisan election officials, not activist groups pushing conspiracy theories. To be sure, many jurisdictions make use of either security cameras or place the drop boxes in well-lit and high-traffic areas. These commonsense precautions are quite a far cry from livestreaming footage for anyone on the internet to scrutinize.

Of equal concern, and very serious, is that this form of surveillance could boomerang in a way that it actually facilitates voter intimidation or harassment.

Publishing the locations of drop boxes with videos of them could allow malicious individuals to target voters or confrontations. The "livestream" format, in particular, appears especially to encourage abuse by facilitating real-time identification and targeting of voters.

Equally concerning is the chilling effect this would have on voter participation. Many people may be uncomfortable with their act of voting being broadcast online, even if they're doing nothing wrong. This is especially true in marginalized communities who already face barriers to voting. The last thing we should do is provide new reasons for eligible voters to stay home.

Ultimately, this is a proposal based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how elections actually work. The idea that amateur internet sleuths watching grainy livestream footage would somehow catch widespread fraud that has eluded election officials, poll watchers, and post-election audits is simply not credible. It shows a lack of faith in the professionals who dedicate their careers to administering elections fairly and securely.

As we head into another contentious election season, it's critical that we push back against these kinds of misguided, potentially dangerous schemes.

Election integrity is vital, but we must pursue it through proper channels and reasonable measures, not partisan surveillance operations. We must direct our energies toward how to make voting more accessible while retaining existing safeguards rather than treating all voters with baseless suspicion.

Posted Using InLeo Alpha