In the era of Covid-19, our health depends on the Post Office. Not only do we get medications and other health-related items via the mail, but our ability to vote will also be dependent on a safe vote by mail service. In a pandemic, it is just too risky to depend on in-person voting.
So is vote by mail safe? The short answer is YES. It is safe. We have been voting by mail in the form of absentee ballots since the Civil War. So why is the President telling us there is potential fraud and abuse? The Commission he established in 2018 to investigate voter fraud produced NO EVIDENCE of fraud and was quickly disbanded. As of now, at least 76% of American voters can vote by mail in the Fall.
Here are a few things you should know about voting by mail:
- Five states have been voting completely by mail for several years without any evidence of fraud or abuse. Those states are Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, Colorado and Utah. Twenty-one other states allow voting by mail for specific local elections. And the President himself suggested this week that voters in Florida should vote by mail this year!
- Voting by mail is not that different from the absentee voting that we have been doing since the Civil War. All military and residents who live outside the U. S. are allowed to vote by mail. Sixteen states require some “excuse” to get an absentee ballot, but thirty-four states do not. (Check out what your state requires.)
- The excuses allowed for getting an absentee ballot vary by state. Check out this URL to find out what your state requires. Generally, the “excuse” is inability to get to the polls in person. In the era of Covid-19, many of us are vulnerable because of our age, so that excuse should be valid.
- California will be sending out ballots to EVERY registered voter on October 5th. You don’t have to request one. It will automatically be sent to you. (If you are not registered to vote or have questions about your registration, check out https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/voting-california/registering-vote/
- In California you will have until Election Day November 3 to submit your ballot for postmark by 8 pm PST. So you will have from approximately the first week of October until Election Day to get that ballot postmarked.
Is mail-in voting more secure than in-person?
- Mail-in voting is actually safer than in-person voting, because addresses for mail-in voting are constantly updated, and ballots get returned if addressee is unknown, whereas in-person voting locations may not have up to date information.
- Mail-in ballots require signatures that match other signatures on file. If your signature has changed because of illness, do you best to match your prior signature, but if there is a question, the registrar will contact you and give you a chance to explain.
- Mail-in ballots have bar codes that allow confirmation that the ballot is real and secure. It is very difficult to defraud bar codes. In addition, when states are processing ballots, the ballots have to be of a specific weight and size and the bar codes have to match voter lists. Paper ballots are actually less hackable than electronic voting.
TRACK your ballot
Once you have filled out your ballot, in California at least, you can go online and track the status of your ballot. Has it been received? Has it been tallied? In other states, there are different rules. It would be great if we had one national system, but we do not. So find out what your state allows and follow up!
HOWEVER — given that the USPS is overloaded now (with letters and postcards urging people to vote and a reduction in staffing), and there is concern that mail may be slower than usual, don’t wait any amount of time to vote once you have a ballot in hand. Ballots will NOT require a stamp and can be dropped at a variety of places, including a post office, a polling place, a “drop box” and the registrar of voters in your location. NO EXCUSE for not getting that ballot in on time.
Bottom line? Mail-in voting is safe and secure, but most urgently it will keep you from getting exposed to Covid-19 at a polling place. So VOTE AS EARLY AS YOU CAN. Send your ballot by USPS or take it to a drop off box (if you state has one) or a County site. (Arizona has this website where you can find a drop off place for your ballot. Other states probably also have locations as well.
Use the internet to find out information about your state and location. Google “where can I register to vote” or “how can I get a mail-in ballot” or “where can I drop off my ballot”? You will be surprised how much information there is about voting and how to do it. (New NBC website helps you figure out your own State’s rules – https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/plan-your-vote-state-by-state-guide-voting-by-mail-early-in-person-voting-election/) And call and write your Congressperson or Senator and let them know your very health depends on your ability to vote by mail!
UPDATE: One of our subscribers sent us this information about dropping off your ballot at a polling place:
“I did some follow up research from the 2020 California Election Officers Digest. There is no requirement for identifying the voter or person dropping off the voter’s mail-in ballot. Many precincts now have a drop off box for mail-in ballots so there is no need to wait in a line. We always vote absentee but last year or the year before we missed the mail in deadline so my wife simply dropped ours off at the local precinct. So the answer is there is (or should be anyway) no need to wait in a line when dropping off mail-in ballots in California.”