1.States must ban ballot harvesting to secure elections.

Ballot harvesting is when a third party collects and submits mail-in ballots from other individuals to be counted. It is unknown whether there is any oversight over these third parties, if there are any bad actors along the chain of custody, or if the third party influences the voters. The lack of information does not inspire confidence in the process.

In 2018, multiple Republicans in California saw their apparent election night wins eventually turn to losses. Republicans pointed at a recent change in California voting law that “lets voters allow anyone to drop off their absentee ballot, rather than a family member as previously required. That has opened the door to what they call ‘ballot harvesting.’” Keep in mind this was before the pandemic. The results speak for themselves. In Orange County alone, more than 250,000 ballots were a “direct result of ballot harvesting.”

2.Prohibit third-party ballot returns and narrow who can return ballots.

The ways this can be manipulated are absolutely nuts. A state-appointed investigator in Wisconsin found a 100 percent turnout in multiple nursing homes. The investigator called it “absurd." He found intercepted ballots, forged signatures, and completed ballots from residents who were deemed “incompetent.” 92,000 residents live in these facilities in Wisconsin. To put that into perspective, Joe Biden won the state by less than 21,000 votes.

There was a similar case in Michigan where a woman was forced to plead guilty to seven counts of election fraud. She was caught submitting applications for absentee ballots on behalf of people who were “legally incapacitated.” These are the cases that the Left wants to pretend don’t happen but are very real.

3.Ban third-party distribution of unsolicited absentee applications.

These so-called “non-partisan” actors are shooting out ballot applications like confetti to anyone and everyone.

Some of these mailing operations “sent voter registration forms to the deceased, to longtime voters who are already registered and even to pets with human-sounding names.”

4.Ban unsolicited absentee applications and ballots by government officials.

States were sending out so many ballots in the 2020 election that people didn’t know what to do with all of them. People were getting multiple ballots. There’s no way that could be taken advantage of, right?

5.States should adopt strict guidelines for absentee ballot return.

This seems obvious due to how quickly the way we vote is changing. By 2008, 75 percent of the country still voted on election day. But by 2020, only 28 percent voted on election day, and half of the votes came by absentee ballot.

This is dangerous. Even left-wing President Jimmy Carter warned about this: “Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.”

6.Require identification to vote absentee.

​How is this not already a thing? Multiple ballot applications are being sent to the same people, dead people, and pets… can you imagine what could be done with no absentee ballot ID requirement? The State of Nebraska recently signed a law addressing this, but much of the country has a long way to go.

7.Prohibit unsecured drop boxes.

This is yet another obvious solution, but it’s the opposite direction the left is going. The State of Arkansas is making great moves to secure drop boxes, and the rest of the country should take notes.

8.Require absentee and mail-in ballots to be returned by election day.

All votes should be counted on election day—period. The longer it drags on, the more people lose confidence. We all can agree we don’t want that. We want people to feel confident in their election.