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The safety of voting by mail
Contrary to rumors and misleading statements in the news lately, voting by mail is safe, secure and does not create voter fraud. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Brookings Institute: “There is no evidence to suggest a systemic bias towards one party or another from mail-in ballots. Nor is there any evidence that there is widespread fraud in the use of mail-in ballots.”
Voting by mail is essential this year to safe voting participation amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Five states, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado and Hawaii, already conduct their elections entirely by mail in ballots.
According to the U.S. Federal Elections Commission and the non-partisan National Vote At-Home Institute, voting by mail increases voting participation in local elections, and it is less expensive than in-person voting. Ballots are only sent to registered voters, ballot envelopes are barcoded to one individual voter, ballots are validated by voter signature verification, and voters can track their ballot in real time using USPS mail-tracking tools.
All these measures insure that mail-in ballots are safe and secure. We need to resist the rumors and fear about mail-in ballots by checking the facts with reputable sources. We need to protect both ourselves and others during this Covid-19 pandemic by wearing masks and physical distancing, and we need to protect our November election by making mail-in ballots available to all who want to use them.
Jenine Davison
Lockwood
