The legislature in Tennessee has unanimously approved a bill that will add watermarks to absentee ballots. The Senate approved the measure 27-0 while the Tennessee House approved it 92-1. The bill is being sent to Governor Bill Lee’s desk and he is expected to sign the bill into law.
We just passed legislation I co-sponsored that requires a non-visible watermark be placed on every mailed absentee ballot, further ensuring the integrity of ballots and elections in TN. No watermark, the ballot is rejected. pic.twitter.com/nalPucZc56
— Rep. Jason Zachary (@JasonZacharyTN) April 27, 2021
The cost of the bill will only be $105 per election commission and it will make elections more secure. Those are good things.
However, originally, the bill included a provision that would have kept election commissions or election officials from taking private money to be used during elections. That was later dropped, probably in order to get the Democrats on board with the watermarks. It probably doesn’t matter all that much in a state like Tennessee, but it is worrisome that there are people like Mark Zuckerberg funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into our elections. Guys like Zuckerberg don’t do anything out of the goodness of their hearts. So, when someone like that starts moving 300 million dollars into your election system, if you care about fair elections, you should be very, very worried.
So, should other states follow Tennessee’s lead and improve our election security with watermarks on absentee ballots? Absolutely. They should also go further than Tennessee did in working to keep “dark money” from individuals and corporations out of our elections. When tech billionaires, liberal foundations, and corporations are ready to offer you money for your election, don’t walk, run in the other direction.
John Hawkins is the author of 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know. He also owns Linkiest.com.
Don’t miss The Dan Bongino Show
