Democrats are complaining that Hillary Clinton may have lost the election due to voter fraud.  It is ironic that they complain only now, when the policies they approved have left many doors wide open to fraud – in favor of Democrats.

One such open door is “touch-screen” voting, an electronic system that leaves no paper trail and therefore no foolproof way to audit the process.  Other invitations to fraud include so-called “motor-voter” registration, especially when one can both register and vote on the same day.

There is no question that illegal aliens are voting, and voting overwhelmingly Democrat.  With millions of illegals in the U.S., the potential for swinging an election exists.  Ballots printed in Spanish facilitate illegal votes.

Worse yet, the instances of voter fraud are both foreseeable and preventable.  Any first-year civics student could devise a more secure system of voting than the one we have.  For example, voter ID cards (with photo and fingerprint) could be issued by the federal government for use in all federal elections.  Proof of citizenship would of course be required.

When voting, two paper forms would be given to the voter – one with the voter ID number and the other the anonymous ballot.  These would then be deposited in separate boxes, which would be kept under lock and key, controlled by partisan observers of all parties concerned.  While no specific connection exists between the voter ID and the vote, it will be easy to make sure the actual number of ballots matches the number of voter IDs.  Precincts with 110 percent voter turnout could be prevented.

A national database could then be used to verify that each voter ID number has been used only once per election.

To further ensure security, the voter ID form is to be signed by the voter, with the BOLD PRINT warning that voting fraudulently carries (for example) a mandatory penalty of at least five years in prison, with additional penalties for conspiracy.  Perhaps a fingerprint placed by the voter on the ID form might impress the warning.

If voting is the single most important duty of citizenship for most people, then voter fraud should be proportionately penalized.  It is the bedrock foundation of our republican democracy, and no violation should be tolerated.

Why it is that measures similar to these were not already instituted years ago is a sad commentary on the willingness of the government, and the public, to accept the undermining of our trust in our system of self-governance.

While additional safeguards could be added as needed, the present system begs for fraud.