Back in July, I wrote about the ballot application I received and the likelihood (or lack thereof) of increased incidents of voter fraud due to an increase in mail-in ballots. Having received and returned my ballot, I stand by my assessment that mail-in ballots are unlikely to result in extensive voter fraud.
This is my first time voting by mail, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with the application or ballot. As I mentioned in my previous post, the ballot application required information about me, the registered voter, that was not included on the application form, decreasing the potential for fraud. The envelope was also marked with “Return Service Requested,” which would result in the application being returned to the sender if I was no longer a valid addressee at this location.
My ballot arrived two days after the first date it could be mailed… not bad for a post office that’s being deliberately sabotaged by a political appointee. I sat on it a couple days, not because I didn’t know where my votes would go, but because I wanted to take the time to read the instructions and extra papers that came with the ballot. I read through the instructions, which were fairly straightforward: darken the square (they were actually rectangles) with a black ink pen, don’t overvote (mark more candidates than votes are allowed for a position), sign & date the envelope provided (presumably after adding the completed ballot to it), and ballots must be postmarked by election day.
I noted the inclusion of an affidavit of hand delivery if I decided to send my ballot with another person to be dropped off, rather than mailed, as well as an affidavit of assisted voter for voters who are unable to complete the ballot themselves due to disabilities or language difficulties. With more than a month to the election, I opted to mail my ballot back in the postage paid envelope, and I don’t need assistance completing it, so I set aside both of these affidavits. Noting also that if I had decided to vote in person, I would need to take my mailed ballot with me or sign an affidavit stating I hadn’t received it; voting multiple times is not allowed.
While the ballot itself is, of course, anonymous, the envelope is trackable: it includes a barcode, several numbers, and my name. I signed up for ballot tracking, so I was notified by e-mail when it was received. I was told it was accepted: the name & barcode allowed officials to compare my signature on the envelope with my voter registration record.
Between the ballot application and the ballot itself, in order to commit extensive voter fraud via mail-in voting, somebody would need the birthdates and signatures for a large number of registered voters and a way to intercept their mail. The possibility of someone (the alleged foreign interference) mass-producing and completing ballots is even less likely, given that ballots typically include everything from federal, state, and local elections – my ballot is not necessarily the same as someone else in the same city because of how district lines are drawn. And even ballot harvesting – collecting other people’s ballots (and potentially completing them) – is unlikely, because it requires a large number of registered voters who are either ignorant of the political process or willing to relinquish their vote to someone else’s control. (That and a political consultant allegedly tried ballot harvesting in the 2018 election… and got caught.)
All in all, the possibilities for mail-in voting fraud are slim, likely to be identifiable, and unlikely to have an impact on this election cycle.
P.S.: Early voting has started. Remember to vote.