A new report from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) opens with an obvious point that has incredibly become less than obvious to some.

“A functioning democracy requires that those who elect their representatives trust the voting system in place. This means that elections must be safe and secure and that there is no doubt that elected officials were legitimately elected to their positions,” states the report, exclusively provided to The Federalist.

The paper lays out “Commonsense Solutions to Better Secure the 2024 Election.” The suggested reforms center on dealing with the explosion of absentee/mail-in voting, which surged 131 percent in Covid-stained 2020 compared to the general election just four years before. FGA says states still have the opportunity “to make the process as secure as in-person voting,” but doing so requires:

• Banning ballot harvesting
• Narrowing who can return ballots
• Banning third-party distribution of unsolicited absentee applications
• Stopping unsolicited applications and ballots by government officials
• Adopting strict guidelines for absentee ballot returns
• Requiring voter ID to cast an absentee ballot
• Prohibiting unsecured drop boxes
• Requiring absentee and mail-in ballots to be returned by Election Day