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Submitted by Frank Limpus, founder of Tennessee Voters for Election Integrity –
On March 25th, President Trump signed Executive Order #14248 “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.”
The order explained requirements that should be in place in the nation’s election systems by September 21, 2025 to ensure the safety, security, accuracy and transparency of our elections. There is now word that President Trump may be issuing a second executive order on election integrity.
This first order states: “Above all, elections must be honest and worthy of the public trust. That requires voting methods that produce a voter-verifiable paper record allowing voters to efficiently check their votes to protect against fraud or mistake. Election-integrity standards must be modified accordingly.”
Per the Executive Order, here in Tennessee, Trump’s election enhancements are to be in place by the upcoming October 7th US House District 7 federal election.
Fortunately, there are a variety of concerns in the EO that don’t relate to Tennessee because the state does a pretty good job with elections. However, there are four main components that pertain to all District 7 counties and Tennessee that have yet to be halted because of lawsuits… so they should be addressed. I recently asked both local and state election officials how they planned to comply with these four elements of the President’s EO.
At their June 24th meeting, the Williamson County Election Commission addressed one issue and gave a misleading answer to another. At their July 14th meeting, the state election commission and election coordinator refused to answer any of my questions. More than five+ weeks after speaking and leaving behind written questions seeking answers, I’ve heard nothing from either.
What are the concerns?
First, all voting machines in the state – including ballot marking devices and optical scanner/tabulators – are supposed to have been upgraded and recertified by the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and state and local election commissions. (Sec. 4(b)(i)&(ii) of Trump’s EO here.) They should now reflect standard 2.0, instead of 1.0. Why? Because as cyber experts and a 2021 Williamson County election have proven, these 1.0 machines have exceptionally risky security, can be hacked and elections can be changed.
Second, any Tennessee county that uses a ballot that encases the voter’s selections in a bar code or QR code (Williamson County’s ES&S machines use a bar code – which is what is read by the tabulator, not the printed text, to count the vote) — is supposed to change to a ballot WITHOUT a bar code/QR code. (Sec. 4(b)(i)) The solution is a hand-marked, VOTER-VERIFIABLE paper ballot. Why? Because ballot marking device-created ballots are NOT voter-verifiable. A voter cannot stand in the ballot box, look at his bar-coded-ballot and verify that his selections are in the bar code. BECAUSE NO HUMAN CAN READ BAR CODE.
And bringing in ballot-on-demand systems to create ballots is not a solution because ballot-on-demand machines are not certified by the EAC.
Third, the Department of Homeland Security and the EAC are to report on the security and risk of all electronic systems used in voter registration, voter rolls and voting processes to ensure against malicious software and unauthorized intrusions. (Sec.6(b)) Why? Because in Tennessee the voter rolls, registration software and registration process for 91 of 95 Tennessee counties are managed by a tiny west Tennessee firm we know nothing about, they don’t appear to have proper cyber security certification or protections and neither county nor state seems to have a contract explaining what they are being paid to do!
My organization, Tennessee Voters for Election Integrity, has requested, but has yet to receive, information concerning that company’s background, knowledge, abilities, certification, cybersecurity protections, processes, customers, contracts, etc. Might they be a pathway for phantom voters to end up in our voter rolls? We don’t know.
Finally, the state and county election commissions are to ensure that no foreign nationals/non-governmental organizations, or any entity supported by foreign funds are to be contributing to, contacting with, or advising our elections. (Sec.8) Why? Because only US citizens should be involved in US local, state and federal elections. And so far, neither commission has demonstrated that Tennessee counties aren’t free of such influence.
I don’t know why answering citizen questions about our elections is such a hard thing for these commissions and government officials to do. But by ignoring our simple questions about how they plan to comply with the President’s executive order – and possibly not addressing any of the President’s EO — I have to ask if they are hiding something about our elections?
This is anything but transparency and raises serious questions about the competence and trustworthiness of our election officials.
About the Author: Frank Limpus is founder of Tennessee Voters for Election Integrity… a citizen-driven group whose mission is to share with state legislators, election commissions and government officials opportunities that have been uncovered via the group’s research to plug holes in Tennessee’s and Williamson County’s election systems.
4 Responses
Ignoring President Trump’s executive order to preserve and protect the integrity of American elections is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Why is it so hard to get Tennessee election officials to do their jobs and protect our votes? And what incredible arrogance to disregard a presidential executive order! Thanks, Frank, for alerting us to this danger and for all your efforts to protect election integrity in our state.
It is hard to understand why the Tennessee Election Commission is not following President Trump’s executive order. Election integrity should be job one and we could avoid a lot of these issues if we just reverted to watermarked, paper ballots.
The Tennessee Election Commission and county election commissions are apparently infested with lucifer’s accursed fraud loving dimmercraps and RINOs.
In my own experience asking government officials anything at all is almost a waste of time. Well, maybe if you’re only asking about where to send contributions. If nothing else, our elections should be trustworthy. I haven’t felt good about casting a ballot in years and 2020 was the blatantly obvious example of rigged elections. We don’t have time to try and get it right. We need to get it right NOW or forever lose our country. Those that would destroy us aren’t waiting. We shouldn’t either. Thanks for the heads up Frank.