Lane von Herzen: County Voting Registrars' Records: An Emergent Concern Pertaining to Free and Fair Elections in the United States

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

County Voting Registrars' Records: An Emergent Concern Pertaining to Free and Fair Elections in the United States

OIG Hotline, it has been brought to my attention that the FBI may be directing the de-registration of significant numbers of Democratic voters through county voter registrars nationwide.

It is alleged that this is being accomplished through multiple means, with minor misspellings added to voters' names chief among them.

Later, these errors are allegedly intended to be utilized to invalidate votes in numbers substantial enough in aggregate to alter general election results.

As an example, I just recently received official election mail from the San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division that misspells my name by placing the W in lowercase. This is a minor error, but it may be enough to invalidate a vote.

I emailed the County Registrar about this concern on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, but received no reply. Here is that communication:

Today, I texted the Registrar with the same concern. Those text communications follow here:

My sense is that there is something larger going on in this case. San Mateo County Registration and Elections Division never misspelled my name before now. "Steph," who was first assigned to handled this matter, was rapidly replaced by "Austin," whose information was repeatedly contradictory.

Perhaps the OIG Hotline can best assess how to investigate this matter.

Given that Donald Trump, on first taking office in 2016, requested the voting rolls from all states' Attorneys General, I would not be surprised to learn that voting rolls had been aggregated by the FBI at the county level. In fact, I would expect this.

Donald Trump has also publicly stated that the manner in which votes are counted can determine the next presidential election. In battleground states, it would not take astronomical numbers of disallowed votes due to misspelled names or invalidated registrars' records to change the outcome of the general election.

Voters are able to check the status of their current voter registrations online at vote411.org, but most of the electorate is not going to take this extra step.

I think this concern represents a potential threat to the fundamental architecture of our democracy, and therefore, I think all communications between the FBI and county voting registrars should be rapidly assessed.

If in fact the FBI and its affiliates have have undertaken any communications with county voting registrars, we need an immediate and comprehensive response to the matter of possible records alterations at county registrars nationwide. Secretaries of state may need to become involved in the effort to rectify any and all falsified names and/or documentation that could serve to invalidate votes, whether in primaries or the general election.

These are my best recommendations at this time.

Most sincerely,