Does vote by mail lead to voter fraud?
- Reality Team
- June 13, 2022
How does vote by mail work?
Here is how voting by mail works:
- States that let you vote by mail send you a ballot to fill out.
- You complete it.
- You either mail it back or return it in the appropriate dropoff box.
Here is how absentee voting works:
- States that let you vote absentee require you to actively request an absentee ballot. Some states require you to have a specific reason to request it, while others allow for “no-excuse” absentee voting.
- You complete it.
- You either mail it back or return it in the appropriate dropoff box.
If both of those methods sound very similar, it’s because they are.
Is mail-in voting different from absentee voting?
Not really. As we note in our explainer about the difference between voting by mail and absentee voting, the main difference is that you must actively request a ballot to absentee vote, whereas in states that vote by mail, they send you a ballot.
How many states let you vote by mail?
8 states currently conduct all elections by mail and 26 states plus the District of Columbia currently allow for no-excuse absentee voting.
Does voting by mail lead to vote fraud?
No. There is no evidence that voting by mail increases electoral fraud, contrary to rumors and allegations that circulate online and on opinion shows.
Not only that, there are several steps in place in every state to ensure fraud does not happen, including verifying identities, matching signatures, and keeping track of who votes to prevent multiple ballots from being cast.
Lastly, the legal penalties for voter fraud are steep – including jail time and fines.
FAQs
Does voting by mail benefit one party over the other?
Contrary to rumors and allegations by political activists, voting by mail does not benefit one party over the other because it benefits everyone.
The quiet part behind these accusations is that it will make voting easier for one party, but nothing is stopping the other party from getting voters to vote by mail as well.
Are absentee ballots more secure than mail-in ballots?
No, but it’s because the same security measures are in place for both voting by mail and absentee voting.
Are fake votes being cast on behalf of dead people and pets?
Despite what you’ve heard online, no. This is a common misconception with no data to back it up.
Sometimes local election officials mail ballots to the wrong address because the voter registration data is out-of-date, which is WAY more common than you think (think how often people move), or a local election official simply made a mistake.
The Brookings Institution: How does vote-by-mail work and does it increase election fraud?
The Guardian: Does mail-in voting lead to fraud – and does it help Democrats? The facts
BBC: US election 2020: Do postal ballots lead to voting fraud?
The New York Times: Fact-Checking Falsehoods on Mail-In Voting
Brennan Center for Justice: Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth
FiveThirtyEight: There Is No Evidence That Voting By Mail Gives One Party An Advantage
The Brookings Institution: Low rates of fraud in vote-by-mail states show the benefits outweigh the risks