Is Voting by Mail Really Unsafe?

Many politicians and citizens see voting by mail as a necessity in the upcoming elections, as long as COVID continues to make in-person voting unsafe. Conversely, there is a group of people who are against voting by mail because they believe it has too many security risks. Many states allow mail-in voting already, and out of the over 250 million votes cast since 2000, only about 500 cases of voter fraud have been identified. This number is minuscule because the mail-in voting has security measures in place to prevent fraud.

Image of someone putting their vote by mail ballot into a ballot box.

Mail-in ballots require identity confirmation with personal information such as license number or social security number. There are many secure drop off locations specifically for ballots, and ballots that are mailed are tracked by USPS using a barcode. Harsh laws are put in place with heavy fines and even jail time for those who commit voter fraud. After elections take place, the election is audited and analyzed to uncover anomalies in statistics which may point to a security breach in the voting system. These measures have ensured almost zero voter fraud in previous elections, and could be easily applied to all state elections with similar results.

Visit this website to find out if voting by mail is an option in your state! https://www.usa.gov/absentee-voting#item-37337