Despite Trump's dumb statement, here's the bottom line:
(1) Mail-in voting is a logistical nightmare. People move all the time and, unless you specifically request a ballot, they're going to go everywhere and people WILL collect them and vote on others' behalf.
(1) Mail-in voting is a logistical nightmare. People move all the time and, unless you specifically request a ballot, they're going to go everywhere and people WILL collect them and vote on others' behalf.
(2) The huge amount Democrats are demanding is just a USPS bailout because it is full of unions. The truth is, even with the money, there's no way the USPS is going to retool just to handle ballots. First class mail is dead. The only first class mail you get is legally-required.
(3) This bailout is an acknowledgement that the USPS cannot handle mass mail-in voting now.
Do you think manufacturers can build and ship sorting machines in 2 months sufficient to handle 140,000,000 ballots?
Then just let them sit and rust? Because 1st-Class mail is dead.
Do you think manufacturers can build and ship sorting machines in 2 months sufficient to handle 140,000,000 ballots?
Then just let them sit and rust? Because 1st-Class mail is dead.
(4) It seems that people have used the USPS so little in recent decades that they don't appreciate how slow and unreliable it is. It is notorious for losing mail and delivering it slowly. Ballots will be found weeks and months after the election. The mail wasn't meant for this.
(5) Absentee ballots work but only when they're a small proportion of votes. Because then the errors are a small proportion of a small proportion. Imagine a national election with several close Presidential and Senate races and then ballots come after Election Day.
(6) Will every Federal judge say "Well, those postmarked ballots came in late and rules are rules..."? No. Way. Imagine Florida 2000 but every year in half the states.
And after the "outcome" is known.
And after the "outcome" is known.
(7) In March 2020, 1.5% of CA's primary ballots were uncounted for either not being postmarked by election day or not arriving 3 days after.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/100000-mail-in-votes-went-uncounted-in-californias-primary/2020/07/13/038adf1e-c527-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html
In Montclair, a mayor won by 195 votes. 1101 absentee votes were rejected. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/13/889751095/signed-sealed-undelivered-thousands-of-mail-in-ballots-rejected-for-tardiness
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/100000-mail-in-votes-went-uncounted-in-californias-primary/2020/07/13/038adf1e-c527-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html
In Montclair, a mayor won by 195 votes. 1101 absentee votes were rejected. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/13/889751095/signed-sealed-undelivered-thousands-of-mail-in-ballots-rejected-for-tardiness
(8) In that NPR article they complained that 65,000 ballots have been rejected in primary elections.
Meh. They're primaries. But when it's a general election, there will be thousands of lawsuits.
And that's if they can count the ballots within a month. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/nyregion/election-absentee-ballots-primary.html
Meh. They're primaries. But when it's a general election, there will be thousands of lawsuits.
And that's if they can count the ballots within a month. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/nyregion/election-absentee-ballots-primary.html
(9) One thing I'm confused about is the "rural" argument.
If you live in a rural area, you've either done absentee voting or voted in person. How is that different now?
I've voted absentee. You ask for your ballot early. You get it early. You submit it early. Because you care.
If you live in a rural area, you've either done absentee voting or voted in person. How is that different now?
I've voted absentee. You ask for your ballot early. You get it early. You submit it early. Because you care.