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Resident urges O'Fallon council to back hand‑counted paper ballots and election security measures
Summary
Doug Gaines, a Ward 7 resident, urged the council to pass a resolution supporting a switch to hand‑counted paper ballots for municipal elections and urged county, state and federal action on election security, citing recently released federal intelligence assessments.
Doug Gaines (Ward 7) told the council he had reviewed newly released federal intelligence assessments and independent analyses and urged the city to lead by example by transitioning municipal elections to hand‑counted paper ballots.
Gaines stated that the documents "reveal that China acquired sensitive data on approximately 220,000,000 American voters" and that other U.S. agencies had identified vulnerabilities, and he argued those risks are best addressed by restoring a voter‑verifiable paper trail and manual counts. He asked the council to: pass a resolution supporting hand‑counted paper ballots for municipal elections; request Saint Clair County and the state board of elections champion similar legislation; and support federal efforts on citizenship verification and mail‑in ballot security.
Gaines framed the change as restoring public confidence: "Hand counted paper ballots are the clearest path to that confidence," and he directed the council to documentation at whitehouse.gov/election‑integrity. The council did not take formal action on his request during the meeting.
What happens next: Gaines asked the council to consider a resolution and to coordinate with county and state election officials; council members or staff would need to place a resolution on a future agenda for formal consideration.
