[jlisenbe]

When I go vote, I have to show photo ID before I get a ballot. With this new version of mail in voting, how will they know that the people filling in the ballots are registered voters? How will they be sure I didn't get three ballots mailed to me by mistake and I sent all three back in? And if they don't know, then how can they be sure that the result is valid?

[paraclete]

When I go vote, I have to show photo ID before I get a ballot. With this new version of mail in voting, how will they know that the people filling in the ballots are registered voters? How will they be sure I didn't get three ballots mailed to me by mistake and I sent all three back in? And if they don't know, then how can they be sure that the result is valid?

The incidence of voter fraud is said to be small, so even if you fill in three ballots, which makes you a dishonest person, the impact is small and won't influence the overall result. It is said those ballots won't even be counted unless there is a close result so all this hohaa is just another storm in a teacup to disguise the real issue which is lack of voter turnout

[jlisenbe]

We are not presently engaging in this type of voting where we just send out ballots by the tens of millions and simply hope they get to the right person. So I'll ask again. What is the plan for knowing that only registered voters are receiving and sending in ballots, and only one per person?

[paraclete]

the premise of your question is false, since it presupposes dishonesty, which is not implicit in the sending out of ballots

[jlisenbe]

No, it presupposes much more than that. It presupposes inefficiency. It presupposes unanticipated consequences and problems. It presupposes, most of all, that you still cannot answer the simple, essential, and very basic questions of how anyone can ensure that the ballots will be mailed to only registered voters, that the mailing lists will be even remotely accurate, and that ballots will only come in from registered voters. Until those questions can be answered, I'd say it's a lousy idea, and it's astonishing to me that anyone would seriously consider it. I remember the episode of the "hanging chads" and am pretty certain we don't need something like that multiplied several times over.

[paraclete]

No, it presupposes much more than that. It presupposes inefficiency. It presupposes unanticipated consequences and problems. It presupposes, most of all, that you still cannot answer the simple, essential, and very basic questions of how anyone can ensure that the ballots will be mailed to only registered voters, that the mailing lists will be even remotely accurate, and that ballots will only come in from registered voters. Until those questions can be answered, I'd say it's a lousy idea, and it's astonishing to me that anyone would seriously consider it. I remember the episode of the "hanging chads" and am pretty certain we don't need something like that multiplied several times over.

I think it masks a different problem; the resolve to ensure that every person who wants to cast a ballot has the opportunity with out unnecessary delay. Long lines at polling places indicates an inefficient system so mail-in voting is convenient and avoids that problem. Every mail-in ballot should be contained in an envelop that contains a valid voter ID code which means mail-in ballots can only be mailed to registered voters at their registered address. What it takes is the need to change ideas from the long hallowed methods that work with small populations to deal with population density

[talaniman]

The state maintains the voter rolls and also the rules and regs that govern the procedure by which ballots are mailed tracked and authenticated found on state and county websites. Far as I know the state attorney general is the head of elections with local collaboration. I think its because of covid that mail in voting has taken a priority, as absentee ballots have been around since I can remember. I really don't know of any state that uses the phone book to mail out ballots, but rely on the registered voter rolls to mail those ballots out. Counties are tasked with tracking registered voters and stopping duplication preventing people from casting votes in two different locations and we seldom have seen this happen after decades of voting despite what some may say about the process.

[jlisenbe]

Still no answers. How will the states know that the ballots they are receiving and counting have come from registered voters? We've seldom seen this happen because it has typically not been done by sending out tens of millions of ballots to unverified addresses for people who did not request them. We can go to grocery stores. We can go to liquor stores. We can go to work places. We can certainly go to polling places as well.

Suppose candidate X loses a very close race to candidate Y. Candidate X then stands up with a box containing hundreds of ballots which were mailed to dead people, wrong addresses, or to voters who received several ballots, all of which have taken place. He challenges the election on those grounds and contends that the state counted invalid ballots. How will that challenge be handled? How will anyone have any confidence in election results under those circumstances?

[Wondergirl]

When I go vote, I have to show photo ID before I get a ballot. With this new version of mail in voting, how will they know that the people filling in the ballots are registered voters? How will they be sure I didn't get three ballots mailed to me by mistake and I sent all three back in? And if they don't know, then how can they be sure that the result is valid?

My son is a registered in-person voter. As registered voter, he was sent an application by the county election commission in case he wants to vote by mail because of COVID-19. He filled out the application and sent it in. On the app were blanks for various ID info plus his signature. My husband, a registered voter, also received an app in the mail, but will probably go in person to vote. I always vote by mail, received a mailed app, filled it out, and mailed it back. In the past, I have called the county election commission office, and they verified by asking me for ID that I am indeed registered before they sent me a ballot.

In Illinois, applications have been mailed to registered voters. Ballots are not mailed to them until the apps have been received and verified.

[Wondergirl]

Still no answers. How will the states know that the ballots they are receiving and counting have come from registered voters?

If the state election boards are smart, they will send out APPLICATIONS to people who, if they aren't registered voters, will register to vote, and will fill out and send in those apps if they don't want to vote in person and want to vote by mail. Voters rolls are checked and marked as ballots are received.

[jlisenbe]

WG, that would work fine. I think that's how it typically works for absentee ballots, or at least something similar to it. That is not, as I understand it, what is being discussed for the future. They would simply mail out ballots en masse, and hope for the best. No requests and no way of verification. Reports like these are not encouraging. "And in New York's recent primary, with more than 10 times the number of mail-in ballots received over recent elections, election officials are still counting absentee ballots six weeks after the election, the New York Times reported."

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/voting-d...%20widespread.

[Wondergirl]

WG, that would work fine. I think that's how it typically works for absentee ballots, or at least something similar to it. That is not, as I understand it, what is being discussed for the future. They would simply mail out ballots en masse, and hope for the best. No requests and no way of verification. Reports like these are not encouraging. "And in New York's recent primary, with more than 10 times the number of mail-in ballots received over recent elections, election officials are still counting absentee ballots six weeks after the election, the New York Times reported."

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/voting-d...%20widespread.

I know states are working hard on finding efficient ways to record and count legitimate votes sent in by REGISTERED voters (despite joyboy DeJoy's tampering with and removing USPS sorting machines and reducing employee hours).

The "subtitle" of your second link's headline is:

How states are working to help registered voters cast their ballots during the pandemic. [my bolding]

[jlisenbe]

"Working hard to find" is a far cry from having an efficient method in place.

[talaniman]

While I can understand the trepidation of some trying new ways of doing things, I think we all understand that there is no instant perfect success and the ones who have gotten it right are basically those that have been doing it a long while and learned how to get it right. If you don't try to do something new or different you will never get it right ever.

I'm sure those states that have done it for decades have worked diligently to overcome their obstacles, glitches and mistakes, and so will those that have never done it before. What's stopping those that have never done it before from modeling through communications those that have?

There is no one answer to your questions since every state does things differently, so contact your own state to see what the requirements and regulations are that apply to you. If they can track your Walmart orders then I'm sure tracking ballots of registered voters can't be that hard even if the locals screw it up sometimes, but they have a process for that too, and for sure you won't get an efficient method in place unless you work hard to achieve that goal.

[Athos]

This is a good answer Tal for a topic that is really just another blatant attempt by Trump to sabotage the coming election. With his flunkie running the Postal SERVICE and destroying mail counters and tightening work hours, Trump hopes to skew the votes in his favor by his desperate falsehoods concerning mail-in ballots.

He still has the Russians running interference for him. It becomes more and more obvious that Putin has a stronghold on Trump - probably financial.

As warned here previously, the coming danger will be the greatest between November 3 and January 20 as madman Trump attempts to do his absolute worst to keep the presidency.

[Wondergirl]

"Working hard to find" is a far cry from having an efficient method in place.

The efficient method IS in place but COVID-19 is a problem when getting the crew together to count votes. Certainly Trump will somehow make COVID disappear....

[paraclete]

his majesty Trump (Canute) shall turn the tide of covid 19 upon his command, oh wait, didn't he already try that

[Athos]

his majesty Trump (Canute) shall turn the tide of covid 19 upon his command, oh wait, didn't he already try that

You're right, he tried and failed. But in his mind, he succeeded. He lives inside his mind which is a very strange place, indeed.

[talaniman]

The dufus's mind is strange and dangerous to anything it touches. He has a habit of touching everything he can, and we watch it wither and die. Think the wingers and sycophants will pay attention? They haven't yet. They're too busy being scared in the Dufus's America of everything including their own shadow.

[jlisenbe]

Still no answers. How will we know that the ballots arriving in the mail are coming from registered voters? How will we know ballots are not being intercepted in the mail? What will you say to the persons who say they never received a ballot, or who received three ballots? How will you ensure that voter roll addresses are accurate? Most of all, how will you handle the elections where a person loses a relatively close race and calls for a recount, and who can demonstrate that the system was unreliable? A recount, bear in mind, of ballots which we can't even say are entirely legitimate. I just kind of think we should answer those questions BEFORE we enter your brave, new world rather than twenty years afterward.

Forget the Post Office (which hasn't been particularly efficient in my lifetime) and forget the excuses. Go to the polls and vote. So simple, and it's been working for over two centuries. We have become so soft. We can go to the liquor store, but we complain about going to vote. The guys who went ashore at Normandy must be shaking their heads in shame and amazement. Elections are far too important for this silly kind of experimentation.