A big battle still rages over mail-in or absentee ballots.
One of the big dividing lines in U.S. politics is between people who want to make it as easy as possible to vote — even if that reduces ballot security — and those who want to ensure election integrity.
A big battle still rages over mail-in or absentee ballots, the use of which expanded dramatically during Covid. Since then, many states have not created enough guardrails against abuses.
“Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud,” was the conclusion of a 2005 bipartisan report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III.
In Maine, Question 1 on next week’s ballot would block the state from automatically mailing absentee ballots to voters every year. Voters could still get one but would have to request it each election.
The measure would also, for the first time, require voters to show ID and would limit to one the number of ballot drop boxes that towns could set up. A new poll by the University of New Hampshire shows that Maine voters are deadlocked on Question 1, in part because Maine’s attorney general prepared a convoluted summary of the measure, confusing voters. Maine is also being sued by the Justice Department over the state’s refusal to provide copies of its state voter registration lists and confirm that it has removed ineligible voters from the voter rolls.
Eyebrows over Maine’s loose ballot laws were raised this month when a woman reported finding 250 absentee ballots wrapped in plastic in a delivery box delivered by Amazon. Maine’s secretary of state admits “there may have been attempts to interrupt the distribution of ballots and ballot materials” and is investigating.
The way to ensure public confidence in our elections is to take reasonable steps that make sure it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat. Despite left-wing protests, the laws that require a form of voter ID in 36 states and limits on mail-in ballots do exactly that.