MARK P. JONES: Restoring faith in elections.

Joe Biden is the de facto presidentelect of the United States. No evidence exists that would provide a reason to doubt he legitimately won an ample majority of the electors to the Electoral College.

Nonetheless, President Donald Trump and his campaign have continued to question the Biden victory by alleging it was achieved fraudulently. These allegations run the gamut from coordinated fraud carried out via the Dominion Voting Systems software, to the backdating of latemail ballots, to the commingling of late and on-time mail ballots, to ineligible people casting amail ballot.

Missing is any smoking gun that would suggest fraud that altered the outcome of the presidential vote took place in any state, be it Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania orWisconsin. Absent future evidence to the contrary, the claim that Biden won via fraud should be labeled as patently false.

However, it appears increasingly likely Trump is going to adopt a narrative that he did not lose the 2020 election. Rather, it was “stolen” from him via a combination of a biasedmainstream media and social media elite that stacked the deck against him (for which there does appear to be at least some circumstantial evidence) and fraud by Democrats that shifted sufficient votes in key battleground states (for which there is no evidence).

The U.S. electoral system is more vulnerable to allegations of election fraud than the systems of many democracies. Partisan officials, elected and appointed, run elections in most jurisdicamong tions in a comparatively decentralized way. The technology employed in some localities is antiquated and does not, for instance, provide a verifiable paper trail that can be used by the voter to confirm their vote was registered correctly or to verify the vote in a recount. And vote-by-mail is more susceptible to fraud then in-person voting.

Trump has not provided any evidence of significant fraud. However, his allegations have underscored a growing threat to the legitimacy of the U.S. electoral process, and hence our democracy, and that is the belief by a substantial segment of the population that electoral fraud is prevalent and this year effectively disenfranchised tens of millions of voters by depriving the presidential candidate they voted for of his rightful victory.

The narrative that fraud prevented Trump’s re-election is likely to continue to resonate many Americans. This will cause many to view Biden’s presidency as illegitimate and tarnish their evaluation of American democracy. While elected officials cannot change this sentiment overnight, they can do six things to help restore public faith in the electoral process.

First, refrain from making unsubstantiated allegations of fraud for partisan gain.

Second, advocate for an unbiased, careful, respectful and open investigation of every allegation of fraud.

Third, if conclusive evidence of fraud is uncovered, publicly support the prosecution of the perpetrators regardless of partisanship.

Fourth, where conclusive evidence is provided that no fraud occurred, publicly support that finding regardless of partisanship.

Fifth, in a bipartisan and transparent way, invest in themost modern and secure voting equipment and software that provides a voter-verifiable paper trail.

Sixth, reconsider the expansion of mail voting. During the pandemic, the public health benefits of mail voting were rightly paramount. But the 2020 election has underscored that many voters (58 percent in Texas, according to a University of Houston Hobby School survey) believe the expansion ofmail voting opens the door to increased fraud.

Whether or not that fraud actually occurs on a noteworthy scale, this belief is unlikely to fade away, and neither is its corrosive effect on our democratic system.