Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab is protecting the integrity of our elections and has rightly advised voters against mailing ballots. Instead, Schwab says voters should take ballots to a secure dropbox location or vote early in person.
The Election Transparency Initiative, a national grassroots public policy organization, which I lead, enlists thousands of Kansas-based activists and would like to salute Secretary Schwab for pinpointing a significant problem with the election system relating to mail ballots.
Schwab says sometimes ballots show up late when mailed.
“Often, people mail their ballot through the United States Postal Service — sometimes I just call the United States Postal and take off the ‘Service’ because they’re not doing much service right now, and they haven’t for a few years,” said Schwab. “When you mail that ballot, almost all of the ballots in Kansas leave the state.”
That’s right, at a time when a record number of Americans are worried about election security, almost all the ballots in Kansas leave the state before reaching their destination at tabulation centers. But Kansas isn’t alone. Officials in Nevada, Texas, Virginia and throughout the country have expressed concerns about mail-in voting.
Secretary Schwab’s comments raise two important questions.
Will your ballot arrive on time, or at all? Some states have even allowed ballots to be counted when they are received up to five days after Election Day, a sure recipe for confusion and doubt — especially in close elections — not to mention an invitation for fraud.
And speaking of fraud, the coronavirus pandemic inspired opportunistic governors and legislators to truly abuse the “convenience” of mail-in voting. Eight states — including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington — currently mail every name on the voter rolls a ballot.
They claim it increases turnout. But turnout by whom? Legal voters, or also those who are ineligible but have yet to be removed from the rolls?
Less than two-thirds of Americans vote in most presidential elections, sometimes substantially less. So, who is returning all these ballots? Did they go to the wrong address? Businesses, parking lots, casinos, strip joints and dead people have received mail ballots. There has been ample evidence of illegal ballot harvesting — collecting unused ballots and submitting them in bulk. And that’s not taking into consideration Secretary Schwab’s question about whether or not you should really trust the Postal Service to get your ballot in on time.
It should be easy to vote but harder to cheat. The reality, however, is that unsecure and unverifiable mail-in voting is an easy way to cheat, and as Secretary Schwab points out, it’s unreliable. To be sure your precious right to vote is protected, follow Secretary Schwab’s guidance and drop your ballot off in a secure drop box or vote in person.
The integrity of our elections depends on it.
Ken Cuccinelli is the former Virginia attorney general and acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and is now leading the Election Transparency Initiative.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Could mail-in ballots arrive too late with USPS delays in Kansas?
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Publish date : 2024-08-24 22:05:00
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