Vote By Mail Fraud UnLikely In Florida
July 27th, 2020 by Jake StofanPresident Donald Trump continues to raise questions about expanding vote by mail this election, going as far this weekend to suggest the results of the election would be rigged if vote by mail were allowed.
“The 2020 Election will be totally rigged if Mail-In Voting is allowed to take place, & everyone knows it. So much time is taken talking about foreign influence, but the same people won’t even discuss Mail-In election corruption. Look at Patterson, N.J. 20% of vote was corrupted!” Trump’s tweet read.
Voter groups like the League of Women voters disagree.
“Since 2000, more than 250 million votes have been cast via mailed out ballots,” said LWV of Florida President Patricia Brigham.
Backing up its claim, the Trump Administration has cited a 2005 study chaired by former President Jimmy Carter.
It warned mail ballots were at the highest risk for fraud, but President Carter in May came out in support of expanding vote by mail in light of the pandemic.
David Carroll, Director of The Carter Center Democracy Program said safe guards exist to fight back.
“Tracking the ballots. Making sure that eligible citizens are requesting them, that there’s ways to verify the identity of the ballots,” said Carroll.
And Mark Earley, Vice President of the State Association representing Supervisor of Elections said those safe guards have worked in Florida.
“I know that there has been some very limited attempts at voter fraud here in Florida, but they’ve been caught,” said Early.
In opposition to some states’ plan to send every registered voter a mail ballot by default, the President’s administration has pointed to a study that found one out of eight voter’s registration is inaccurate or no longer valid.
But in Florida, voters have to request mail ballots.
“If someone’s dead or their registration expired or is invalid for some reason, they aren’t there to request it and they can’t sign it, we can’t validate it based upon their signature,” said Earley. “So the checks are in place to make sure that those kinds of situations are caught.”
And Earley said with vote by mail it’s more likely a legitimate vote would be thrown out rather than a fraudulent one counted.
To ensure your vote is counted, supervisors recommend mailing ballots at least five days before election day or returning it in person.
As an added protection you should track your ballot through your local supervisor of elections office.
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