This is not complicated, and we do not want it to become too complicated.  In the 2000 election, there was a lot of discussion about two-corner chads and three-corner chads and hanging chads, and many people came to believe it was going to be impossible to know who really won the election.  The declared winner would have no legitimacy.

Granted, election laws in Florida in 2000 were not as complicated as the media led us to believe.  The law should have been followed without any alterations during the recount, but the news media confused people.  In that confusion, there can be no clear winner.  We need to keep it simple.

Stalin is alleged to have said, "It's not the people who vote that count; it's the people who count the votes."  To have a free and fair election, the counting of the votes must be performed in a completely transparent manner.  It is not enough to have independent observers, since "independent" observers may be biased in favor of one side or the other.  The candidates on the ballot must have an opportunity to have observers whom they choose to oversee the entire process so the candidates are satisfied that they won or lost a free and fair election.

That is not what happened in the 2020 election.  That is the single most important and simple fact that needs to be understood and communicated.  The 2020 election was not a free and fair election, because poll-watchers were not allowed to do their essential job.  The 2020 election can still be a free and fair election with a clear winner, whoever that may be, but time is running out.

In every instance where poll-watchers were not allowed to observe the process, those votes must be recounted.  They must be recounted with poll-watchers from both sides present.  If there are votes that cannot be recounted because the envelops were discarded, those votes must be discarded.  Put the blame for this on the officials who decided to count the votes in secret.  Consider it a way to discourage secret vote counts in the future.

The pandemic has not been fearful enough to close liquor stores, and it in should not be used as excuse to remove the poll-watchers who are essential to a free and fair election.  If we must have social distancing, then use cameras.

Certainly, there are other issues with the 2020 election.  There may be problems with software, and there are issues like signature verification and dead people voting.  Everything should be considered and examined, but no other issue should distract from the simple fact that both sides must be able to view the entire process.  If one side is not allowed to view the vote-counting, then that side should be calling it a fraud.  We should all be calling it a fraud.

This is simple, and it should not be complicated by any other issue with the election.  If the votes are counted in secret, then we do not have a republic.  Twenty twenty will be the end of the American Republic, like when Caesar crossed the Rubicon and ended the Roman Republic.  We may continue to go through the formality of elections like the former Soviet Union, but it will be only a formality if the votes are counted in secret.

Some people may be willing to suspend democracy in order to get rid of "orange man," but if we suspend democracy in this election, the "powers that be" will make sure we never get it back again.  They may allow the 2022 congressional election to go forward, but surely, we will nominate someone they do not like in 2024.  And it will be over.

We need to communicate to all voters the essential role of poll-watchers.  This includes the "low-information" voters who may have voted for Joe Biden, but they will still want to preserve the Republic once they realize that the preservation of the Republic is at stake.

Most "low-information" voters are not bad people, and they are not stupid.  They are often working people who have interests they pursue when they are not working, and their interests do not include politics or current events.  They know little about politics and current events, but they may be brilliant in other areas.

Democrats are better with "low-information" voters because they appeal to emotions and they use simple talking points.  We need short, simple talking points that can be repeated every time a Republican gets in front of a television camera — something along the lines of "secret vote-counting" or "free and fair election" or "death of the Republic."  The public needs to understand that poll-watchers are absolutely essential to free and fair elections, and time is running out.