Mail-In Voting and Complications You Could Encounter

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Aug 04, 2020 03:42 AM EDT

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed people's way of life immensely. Your usual routine will be different, and you may be facing a different working setup now.

With this, many adjustments have been made. The November presidential election will not be exempted from this.

Many states have opted to vote by mail due to the current health crisis. Although mail voting can present itself as a proper alternative to cast your vote while doing safety precautions, this can also be an unfamiliar method to many voters. Also, ballots cast by mail are more likely to be rejected than those cast in person, according to a Business Insider report.

Experts suggest that you request your mail ballot as soon as possible to cast your vote successfully. They also said voters should carefully follow the instructions to make sure the vote is counted.

Residents who live in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, or Columbia district will most likely have a mail-in ballot automatically sent to you even without a request.

Oppose to what President Donald Trump's claims, mail voting is not necessarily fraudulent or corrupt. Through a tweet, Trump even suggested delaying the election until people can safely and securely vote. However, a mail-in vote can pose more complications compared to voting in person.

The Vulnerability of Mail-in Voting

Mail-in ballots are most vulnerable to being altered, stolen, or forged, according to a Heritage report.

In Paterson, New Jersey, four men are being charged with voting fraud. It includes the vice president of the City Council and a candidate for that body.

Experts acknowledged that mail-in ballots are more susceptible to fraud and irregularities. More than 800 ballots in Paterson have been invalidated for appearing in mailboxes improperly bundled together.

The Daily Signal report said there were citizens of Paterson, who were listed to have voted, but told NBC that they never received a ballot and did not vote. Aside from being more prone to fraud, mail-in ballots also have a higher rejection rate.

The state of New York also experienced the same with their mail-in votes. In a New York Post's report, a federal judge ordered election authorities to recount mail-in ballots across New York state that were declared invalid for not having a post-mark.

"When voters have been provided with absentee ballots and assured that their votes on those ballots will be counted, the state cannot ignore a later discovered, systemic problem that arbitrarily renders those ballots invalid," Manhattan Judge Analisa Torres said in a report.

Reports noted that these technical problems occur as there are no elected officials in people's home to answer their questions. With these technicalities, should the election officials reconsider a face-to-face election?

In-Person Elections

New research suggests that elections can be safe if steps to lower COVID-19 infection risk would be strictly followed.

The study was followed by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigation that looked at what happened in Milwaukee City after Wisconsin became the first state to conduct an in-person election during the pandemic.

The observation showed that the election did not aggravate cases, hospitalizations, and deaths due to the COVID-19. However, Mark Jones, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, said people voting in-person would be put at risk.

"Especially for people who have really been isolating themselves: the elderly, the vulnerable, or people caring for them. They are really going to be put in a dilemma. But if you're already going to the grocery store, going out to the pharmacy or going out to eat, then voting won't be any more dangerous," Jones said in a US News report.