The Left Is Calling for Mail-In Voting. Here’s Why It’s a Bad Idea.

[Truth Detector]

The Left Is Calling for Mail-In Voting. Here’s Why It’s a Bad Idea.

Political figures on the left, ranging from former first lady Michelle Obama to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are calling for the presidential election on Nov. 3 to take place through mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, joins the podcast to explain why mail-in voting could result in voter fraud. Listen to the podcast below or read the lightly edited transcript.

Virginia Allen: I am joined by Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and a presidential Trump appointee to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Hans, thank you so much for joining me today.

Hans von Spakovsky: Sure. Thanks for having me.

Allen: Now, the coronavirus is affecting a lot of local and state elections. Many primaries we’ve already seen have been postponed. But the biggest topic of debate right now is really the presidential election in November.

Some want to see mail-in voting be used during that election really solely as the way that people would vote. And that sounds kind of reasonable at first.

We are coming out of this global pandemic. And, obviously, for some people, that’s frightening even this fall to think about gathering and large groups, especially for those who are older or might be immune compromised.

So, at first glance it might be like, well, mail-in voting is not such a bad idea. But what do you think about mail-in voting?

Von Spakovsky: It is something we should only go to if we were absolutely required. And I kind of doubt that the entire country is still going to be shut down on Nov. 3, the date of the general election.

Look, the problem with mail-in voting is basically this, in every state you can vote by absentee ballot, particularly if you’re ill or disabled. And we obviously need that.

But all-mail elections have all kinds of security problems. And the reason is very simple, these are the only kind of ballots that are being voted out of sight and out from under the supervision of election officials.

That’s why it is, unfortunately, easy to not just engage in fraud in those kinds of elections, but it’s also easy for voters to be intimidated. And that’s a cause for concern and should be a cause for concern for anyone interested in having an election process that is fair and has good security too.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/04/...ts-a-bad-idea/

[Truth Detector]

Allen: … Former first lady Michelle Obama is really one of those strong voices that is advocating for mail-in voting. And she recently said, “Americans should never have to choose between making their voices heard and keeping themselves and their families safe. Expanding access to vote by mail, online voter registration, and early voting are critical steps for this moment and they’re long overdue.”

What’s your response to former first lady Michelle Obama?

Von Spakovsky: Well, she doesn’t seem to realize the contradiction of what she just said. She says we should have all-mail voting because you shouldn’t have to endanger your safety. Well, if that’s the case, why does she want increased access to early voting?

Early voting is something that about two-thirds of the states have where they open up polling places several weeks before Election Day.

Well, why would she want early voting increased if, in fact, she’s worried about people catching the coronavirus by going to a polling place? That doesn’t make sense. That makes it look like what she’s talking about is basically a partisan objective to increase early voting sites around the country.

Of course, the problem with that is early voting has been shown to actually hurt turnout. And second, it has people voting weeks before Election Day, which often means they can miss important news connected with their choice of who they have voted for.

Anybody who doubts that, just take a look at what happened in the Super Tuesday primary at the beginning of March where you had major candidates—Sen. [Amy] Klobuchar, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg—[drop] out two days and one day before the Super Tuesday primary, and yet hundreds of thousands of individuals had already cast ballots for them in early voting states.

They couldn’t call those ballots back. In essence, you had hundreds of thousands of people who wasted their vote on candidates who had dropped out. But, because of early voting, there was nothing they could do about that.

[jacksonsprat22]

It works in my state. Several states have been doing it before the pandemic without problems.

[Truth Detector]

Allen: Wow, wow. And is this really more of a state issue? I mean, can the federal government really tell states how they can and can’t hold elections?

Von Spakovsky: They shouldn’t. No.

Look, we have a very decentralized election system. It’s the most decentralized of all the Western democracies. That was intentional by the Framers and Founders because they said they didn’t think it was a good idea for the federal government, Congress, and the White House to be able to run federal elections, because then they might change the rules to make sure that they stayed in office.

So, elections are administered almost entirely by the states. And that’s the way it should stay. We should not have the federal government coming in and telling the states, “Here are the rules,” for example, “for absentee ballots,” or, “You have to have all-mail elections from now on.” That’s a decision states should make on their own.

[Truth Detector]

It works in my state. Several states have been doing it before the pandemic without problems.

What state are you claiming it works in sunshine?

[jacksonsprat22]

What state are you claiming it works in sunshine?

Works everywhere, sunshine.

[Truth Detector]

Vote-by-mail delivers an array of problems
Vote-by-mail raises privacy concerns and there's little evidence that it expands voter turnout: Opposing view

OUR VIEW: Wisconsin voting mess sends a message for November

If election administrators are unable to verify the authenticity of votes cast, election results would be delayed or put in doubt, and protracted post-election legal disputes are likely.

There is also little evidence that vote-by-mail significantly expands turnout in federal elections. And all-mail systems face equity concerns because it can be a challenge to get ballots to voters without addresses, or who move often. Increasing access to early voting also raises concerns.

Voters who cast their ballots early risk missing critical information that can surface in the closing days of an electoral campaign. Such programs do not appear to increase voter participation meaningfully. And a vast expansion of such programs raises logistical and cost concerns similar to those created by the move to increase voting by mail.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opini...es/2966804001/

[Phantasmal]

I’m voting by mail in November. My husband has sent in his ballot app. as well.

[Truth Detector]

Works everywhere, sunshine.

What state sunshine?

[Truth Detector]

I’m voting by mail in November. My husband has sent in his ballot app. as well.

And we should give a shit about you because?

[jacksonsprat22]

What state sunshine?

If you don't know what states have mail in ballots go find out. Are you this lazy?!

[blackascoal]

It works in my state. Several states have been doing it before the pandemic without problems.

This is otherwise known as grasping at straws .. real tiny ones.

[Truth Detector]

15 Election Results That Were Thrown Out Because of Fraudulent Mail-In Ballots

Districts in these four states saw election outcomes overturned after absentee voter fraud came to light.

Now, with millions of Americans homebound because of COVID-19, progressives are amping up their push for national mail-in voting as Michelle Obama throws her support behind related legislation purporting to be a response to the pandemic.

What neither the former first lady nor the bill’s Democrat sponsors in the Senate, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, have talked about are various provisions of the legislation that would allow for ballot harvesting. That practice was abused prominently in the largest voter fraud scandal of recent decades.

Two regimes are fighting an ideological war in America today. But what side are you on? And how can you sharpen up on how to defend your position? Learn more now >>

“It mandates states allow for ballot harvesting and vote by mail. On the whole, this has little to do with a COVID-19 response and a lot to do with the agenda the Democratic Party has proposed in the past,” Jason Snead, executive director of the watchdog group Honest Elections, said of the bill in a phone interview with The Daily Signal.

“They seem to view this as a politically opportune moment to advance legislation,” Snead said of Obama and other proponents.

“States should be encouraging wide use of absentee voting in the primary season,” Snead said, adding that states also should prepare for contingencies during the November general election even though it’s too early to know what the coronavirus crisis will be like at that point.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/04/...il-in-ballots/

[jacksonsprat22]

This is otherwise known as grasping at straws .. real tiny ones.

what the fuck are you babbling about?

[Truth Detector]

If you don't know what states have mail in ballots go find out. Are you this lazy?!

Listen you dishonest thread trolling hack; I am asking YOU what state YOU vote in. YOU made the fucking claim; answer the question.