08/13/2020
We all know how “reliable” mail in ballots are.
DeWine said that while there is always a concern about fraudulent activity surrounding mail-in ballots, he believes Ohio is well-experienced with the process and has a good system in place.
“I’m comfortable,” he said. “Look, you always have to worry about fraud. You have to be vigilant. We have a great Secretary of State Frank LaRose and good local boards, Democrat and Republican checking on each other. It’s going to work.”
California Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris says ensuring a ‘safe’ Election Day this November needs to be a national priority.
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Some interesting facts about mail-in voting in recent history.
“Three times the amount of mail in ballots were rejected v. in person voting in 2016.”
“Hundreds of thousands of ballots in Colorado, Oregon and Washington were returned as undeliverable.”
“Between 2012 and 2018, 28.3 million mail-in ballots remain unaccounted for, according to data from the federal Election Assistance Commission. The missing ballots amount to nearly one in five of all absentee ballots and ballots mailed to voters residing in states that do elections exclusively by mail.”
“States and local authorities simply have no idea what happened to these ballots since they were mailed – and the figure of 28 million missing ballots is likely even higher because some areas in the country, notably Chicago, did not respond to the federal agency’s survey questions. This figure does not include ballots that were spoiled, undeliverable, or came back for any reason.”
“The Public Interest Legal Foundation, which compiled the public data provided from the Election Assistance Commission, says that the sheer volume of them (missing ballots) raises serious doubts about election security.”
“A significant increase in mail-in voting this fall could greatly incentivize “ballot harvesting,” where third parties collect mail-in ballots on behalf of voters and deliver them to election officials.”
“Ballot harvesting is illegal in most of the country. California legalized ballot harvesting, and observers say the practice played a key role in ousting several congressmen in Orange County in 2018, a longstanding GOP stronghold in a state that has become very liberal in recent decades.”
“In 2016 Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by garnering over 2.8 million more votes than Donald Trump. But nearly 6 million unaccounted mail-in ballots were never counted in 2016, more than twice her margin in the popular vote. The potential to affect elections by chasing down unused mail-in ballots and make sure they get counted – using methods that may or may not be legal – is great.”
“Concerns about fraud in mail-in ballots were serious enough that a 2008 report produced by the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project recommended that states “restrict or abolish on-demand absentee voting in favor of in-person early voting.”
“Despite these concerns, five states – Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Hawaii – now do all elections exclusively by mail. Supporters point to smooth elections in these states as proof that it works. But PILF obtained voter data from Oregon, the first state to adopt voting by mail exclusively, for the 2012 and 2018 elections and checked it against census data. Of the 7 million ballots the state sent out in those two elections, some 871,000 ballots are totally unaccounted for. One in 8 ballots are lost in Oregon and they are widely thought to have more accurate lists than most states because they have been doing mail-in voting for years.”
“Let us not forget, the US Post Office lost $4 Billion in 2019 and is on track to lose $7 Billion this year. Two members of Congress want to expand the Postal Service into new areas after it has already failed to compete against private sector shipping. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) want to allow banking and credit card systems to be managed by the USPS.”
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Here are some questions to consider with regards to mail-in ballots.
What happens if the mail is slow to get to your home or slow to get back to the post office and is not counted because the deadlines are missed?
What happens if the outbound mail never arrives in say, certain areas? In 2007, I personally delivered 12,000 pieces of mail to the post office and not a single piece ever arrived at homes.
What happens if the address is wrong because people recently moved, or the database did not get updated because you moved 2 years ago? They will tell you the databases are accurate. Do you believe them?
What happens in group communities if someone collects the ballots, fills them out and mails them back in?
How do we know the person filling out the ballot is the person registered to vote?
Do you ever wonder, when you put something in the mail, will it arrive or get lost?
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I am sure DeWine would never radically change an Ohio election using some hundred plus year old health code. Oh wait…
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https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/its-going-to-work-dewine-says-he-is-confident-in-mail-in-voting-for-presidential-election/
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/04/24/28_million_mail-in_ballots_went_missing_in_last_four_elections_143033.html #!
https://reason.com/2019/05/10/post-service-lost-2-billion-in-three-months/
