Trump signed an executive order today about mail in voting.
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So in summary, mail-in ballots are secured by mechanisms and processes that replicate all the steps of the check-in process at in-person precinct polling stations, but with the ADDITIONAL safeguard that the voter needs to provide a unique document that was sent to their address for each election.
The idea that mail-in voting invites fraud is simply not supported by reality.
@mattblaze The funny thing is the US does one step more to check mail-in ballots than, for example, Germany. Here, we have the same two envelope system. We don't sign the outer envelope but a special form, called "Wahlschein"¹ that has to be in the outer envelope. Poll workers check identifying details and that the voter signed but they do not compare it to any signature on file. If it's signed, it's good.
¹) It's possible a Wahlschein has been invalidated and that's checked as well.
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So in summary, mail-in ballots are secured by mechanisms and processes that replicate all the steps of the check-in process at in-person precinct polling stations, but with the ADDITIONAL safeguard that the voter needs to provide a unique document that was sent to their address for each election.
The idea that mail-in voting invites fraud is simply not supported by reality.
@mattblaze there is one type of ballot stuffing that theoretically could be tried. You find out who is registered but almost never votes, request a ballot for them, and then vote "on their behalf". But that's actually easier to do in person than by mail because signatures aren't typically verified with in-person voting. This can be done in places where identification isn't checked at the polling place or is relatively weakly checked.
And you need to be mighty confident that the real voter won't show up. And even then the amount of effort involved in each ballot makes the ROI really low.
*And* of course this scenario is entirely orthogonal to the ostensible vulnerability this EO describes.
I know you're already aware of (perhaps all of) the vulnerabilities that exist in the system today. I bring this up for completeness, not to dispute what you said or to suggest that I think you hadn't considered it. I therefore mention it because other people read these threads and can benefit from them.
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Trump signed an executive order today about mail in voting. It's an attempt to restrict postal delivery of mail in ballots to people on a DHS-compiled list of citizens.
Rick Hasen has a nice summary (tl;dr: not much to get worked up over here, for both legal and practical reasons):
Breaking: President Trump Signs New Executive Order on Elections: It is Underwhelming Compared to What Was Threatened. It's Key Part is Likely Unconstitutional: Directing the Post Office to Reject Mail Ballots Except from Those on Federally Approved Voter Lists #ELB
President Trump has signed a second executive order purporting to regulate federal elections (especially mail ballots). His first executive order from March 2025 has already been enjoined in key parts for violating the Constitution. As Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote in one … Continue reading Breaking: President Trump Signs New Executive Order on Elections: It is Underwhelming Compared to What Was Threatened. It’s Key Part is Likely Unconstitutional: Directing the Post Office to Reject Mail Ballots Except from Those on Federally Approved Voter Lists →
Election Law Blog (electionlawblog.org)
@mattblaze Sounds like the USPS just got put in the middle of the election process. Where is the money coming from to fund that EO.
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So in summary, mail-in ballots are secured by mechanisms and processes that replicate all the steps of the check-in process at in-person precinct polling stations, but with the ADDITIONAL safeguard that the voter needs to provide a unique document that was sent to their address for each election.
The idea that mail-in voting invites fraud is simply not supported by reality.
Let me get this straight: a #Trump appointee, the Postmaster General, is in charge of delivering to each citizen a permit to vote--the bar-coded return envelope for the #ballot
No chance for shenanigans there. Expect mail delivery to be on time in rural MAGA counties. Mail delivery in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Boston, and Baltimore suffers unexplained delays.
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@mattblaze there is one type of ballot stuffing that theoretically could be tried. You find out who is registered but almost never votes, request a ballot for them, and then vote "on their behalf". But that's actually easier to do in person than by mail because signatures aren't typically verified with in-person voting. This can be done in places where identification isn't checked at the polling place or is relatively weakly checked.
And you need to be mighty confident that the real voter won't show up. And even then the amount of effort involved in each ballot makes the ROI really low.
*And* of course this scenario is entirely orthogonal to the ostensible vulnerability this EO describes.
I know you're already aware of (perhaps all of) the vulnerabilities that exist in the system today. I bring this up for completeness, not to dispute what you said or to suggest that I think you hadn't considered it. I therefore mention it because other people read these threads and can benefit from them.
In New Jersey, no ID is required to vote. Nevertheless, my current signature and the one on file is subject to ocular inspection and comparison before I'm allowed in the booth.
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In New Jersey, no ID is required to vote. Nevertheless, my current signature and the one on file is subject to ocular inspection and comparison before I'm allowed in the booth.
@Stinson_108 @mattblaze yeah the "fun" part about these topics is the regional variations. Matt talks about this all the time, with good reason. It also means that it's pretty much impossible to come up with a single voting fraud strategy that can work nationwide.
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4) The inner envelopes (of accepted ballots) are opened only later, in batches after they've been separated from the outer envelopes with the identifying information. This preserves ballot secrecy. Then the opened ballots are sent to the tally machines (generally optical scanners) and retained.
This workflow has a number of important properties.
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@mattblaze
In my CA county, there is only the outer return envelope with the signature. No inner, just the ballot that is stored for counting on election day. -
So in summary, mail-in ballots are secured by mechanisms and processes that replicate all the steps of the check-in process at in-person precinct polling stations, but with the ADDITIONAL safeguard that the voter needs to provide a unique document that was sent to their address for each election.
The idea that mail-in voting invites fraud is simply not supported by reality.
@mattblaze Trump doesn't care about reality. He lives in alternative facts.
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@mattblaze Trump doesn't care about reality. He lives in alternative facts.
@dapangma ok. But perhaps there are people here who *do* care. That’s who my post is for.
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@dapangma ok. But perhaps there are people here who *do* care. That’s who my post is for.
@mattblaze @dapangma Thanks Matt!
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