Would an All-Mail System Result in a Rigged Election?

            We live in a crazy world with many signs of the last days being seen. Amongst these signs are natural disasters, such as “earthquakes in divers places” and manmade disasters. Democrats and leftists have tried numerous tactics for the past three years to take down Donald Trump, all of which failed spectacularly. Just as the impeachment attempt was winding down, the coronavirus came on the scene. Democrats were true to nature and chose to use COVID-19 as a crisis that they could not let go to waste. 

Americans, like millions of people worldwide, willingly stayed home to protect the vulnerable people, while hospitals and other medical facilities ramped up to handle the pandemic. Once the curve had been flattened and hospitals were prepared, Americans began protesting the stay at home orders. We were told that it was not safe to gather in groups of more than ten people, and we should not go to church, school, or other normal places. After a video of a white copy kneeling on the neck of a black man and killing him went viral, protests started against police brutality and erupted into riots declaring that “Black Lives Matter!”

Even though Americans cannot go back to church or school, politicians at state and local levels seemed to condone the riots. It was as though the coronavirus would not infect anyone that was fighting for racial equality, just church-going people. Then a strange thing happened. The activity that began as a protest morphed into destruction of good as well as bad and seemingly supported by Democrats and some Republicans.

With all the tensions of the coronavirus and the chaos and destruction of the riots, many people may not be aware of a different tactic to take Trump out of office and keep him out of office. Democrats are pushing for an election where all Americans mail their ballots – after all, voting in person is one of the activities that is not safe during the pandemic!

I have voted by absentee ballot several times as I traveled. I know that many people travel for numerous reasons and may not be in town for an election, so I believe strongly in absentee voting. However, I am strongly against all-mail voting. Both types of voting are done by mail, but they are not the same.

Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal recently posted an article about eight key points that distinguish the two types of voting. He emphasized that many people, including Trump, do not trust Democrats to have an honest all-mail system. After all, Democrats are the party that has dead people voting and more than 100% of residents voting. Lucas’ eight key points about the “difference between absentee voting and expanded mail-in balloting, the advantages and disadvantages, and how states handle each” are as follow.

1. What’s the difference?

Every state provides a means for voters to cast a ballot without physically showing up at the voting booth.

Absentee balloting traditionally has been a means to participate in an election for voters who are unable to physically go to the polls, whether because of mobility issues such as illness, travel on Election Day, military service, or residence on a college campus….

Absentee voting is prone to fraud, election experts say, but has more safeguards than all-mail voting.

“The main difference is [in] voting by absentee ballot, a voter has to request a ballot in most cases and fill out a form and sign to authenticate the request,” Hans von Spakovsky … told The Daily Signal….

“With all-mail [voting], they just send out a ballot and without certainty it’s going to a live voter,” von Spakovsky said. “The problem with all-mail voting is that ballots are mailed to every registered voter. We know voter registration rolls are in bad shape all across the country, with multiple duplications and sending out ballots to people that don’t live there.”

A dozen states currently allow voters to request an absentee ballot online….

2. Does This Increase the Chance of Fraud?

In 2005, the Commission on Federal Election Reform … determined that absentee ballots were the biggest source of election fraud….

In one practice, known as ballot harvesting, political operatives may collect absentee ballots from voters and even be present when a voter makes selections….

Mail-in ballots, particularly those sent without a voter’s request, also could be prone to theft, von Spakovsky said.

“You have a very valuable commodity in an election – a ballot – floating around, and that can be picked up by ballot harvesters or others and mailed in,” von Spakovsky said.

3. Do Mailed Ballots Spark Real Problems?

California, Michigan, and New Hampshire took measures to expand mail-in voting this year, citing COVID-19….

The move by the three states coincides with a new finding that 28.3 million mail-in ballots have gone missing, based on data from the federal Election Assistance Commission covering election years 2012 through 2018….

4. What States Automatically Send Ballots?

For the 2020 presidential election, the states of Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington will send out ballots, with no application required. In these states, a voter may physically return a ballot to an election official if he or she chooses, and a limited number of polling places generally are open on Election Day.

Another three states – California, Nebraska, and North Dakota – allow local jurisdictions to determine whether elections will be only by mail…. In California … about 50% of the voting population lives in counties that automatically send out ballots.

In 1998, Oregon became the first state to adopt voting only by mail. The neighboring state of Washington enacted such a law in 2011, Colorado in 2013. In Hawaii, mail-only voting has been on the books since last year.

Utah allowed local jurisdictions to do all-mail voting in 2012, then expanded to statewide last year.

5. How Does Absentee Voting Differ by State?

Some states have a “no excuse” voting system, so that any voter for any reason may mail in an absentee ballot. Even so, a voter must first submit an absentee voter application.

In “excuse required” systems, a voter must meet certain criteria, which varies from state to state but generally provide that a voter must give a reason for being unable to show up at the polls Election Day. Here also, an absentee application is required.

In two-thirds of the states, an excuse is not required to vote absentee….

6. Does Voting by Mail Increase Participation?

Advocates for mail-in voting cite voter convenience….

Voter participation increases at least in some cases, research shows, but not in a big way….

7. What’s [the] Impact on State, Local Budgets?

A study by Pew Charitable Trusts from 2016 found that election costs went down by an average of 40% across 46 sampled counties in Colorado.

However, the National Conference of State Legislatures notes that sending ballots by mail increases printing costs for elections….

8. What Are [the] Downsides Besides Fraud?

Voting by mail also could lead to more voter errors or “residual votes.” If someone is unsure about a vote at a polling place, he or she is able to seek assistance from an election worker.

But when marking a ballot outside a polling place, a voter could check more options than allowed, also called an “overvote,” or fail to make their choice clear, called an “undervote.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures: “Voting equipment at in-person voting locations will notify voters if this happens and allow the voter the opportunity to correct it. When returning an absentee/mailed ballot there is not a similar mechanism to inform voters of errors…. Damaged absentee/mailed ballots may be harder to correct as well.”

Postal service also isn’t the same in all neighborhoods, the group says: “Mail delivery is not uniform across the nation. Native Americans on reservations … may have difficulty with all-mail elections. Many do not have street addresses, and their P.O. boxes may be shared.

“Low-income citizens move more frequently and keeping addresses current can pose problems. Literacy can be an issue for some voters, as well, since election materials are often written at a college level.”

            I consider many people involved in the election process to be unworthy of my trust. This is the reason why I do not trust an all-mail election system. In fact, the only thing that I distrust more than the all-mail system is an online voting system. I believe that people should go to the polls in person if possible AND show a personal identification before getting a ballot. There is too much at stake in our nation to allow unnecessary opportunities for fraud.