The 2020 election is likely to include the largest amount of mail-in ballots ever, thanks to Democrat-led efforts to massively expand mail-in voting in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. So, what could go wrong? A lot, actually. Despite Democrats, the mainstream media, and big tech platforms like Facebook repeatedly insisting mass mail-in voting is completely safe and reliable, there is ample evidence of fraud and chicanery involving mail-in ballots already this year. There is also research backing up the potential pitfalls of mass mail-in ballots.
A report on mail-in balloting in the last two elections finds some 300,000 mailed ballots were rejected in 2016, when far fewer people voted by mail. The rejections were for various reasons, but were higher for those who hadn't previously voted by mail. "We found people who are experienced with in-person voting, when they switch to mail-in voting have higher rejection rates, usually caused either by being late or missing signatures," says Dr. Michael Herron, professor at Dartmouth College and co-author of the report. "Not signing the ballot at all is the most common error."
But there are also other reasons ballots get tossed out. "Ballots get rejected sometimes because local clerks determine the signatures on them don't match official ones," says Dr. Herron. "That's a different issue than forgetting to sign, that's an issue involving the discretion of a local election official."
The bottom line conclusion of the research is that mail-in voting is more uncertain than voting in person. "Voters should be very careful about the procedures for mail-in voting, particularly people who aren't used to doing it," says Dr. Herron. "Any voter who has voted by mail and lives in a place where you can check the status of your mailed ballot, you should do it."