Herb Jackson 6 Questions To Ask

6 Questions to Ask about Mail-in Voting
Herb Jackson, politics editor, CQ Roll Call
What we saw: They said Wisconsin in March should be a warning. After Georgia on June 9 –
which had lines so long the New York Times used video shot by a drone -- there were calls for
quick federal action to prevent a meltdown in November. There were also long lines in
Baltimore, and Las Vegas.
There were some common causes: Poll workers -- who tend to be elderly – didn’t want to risk
their health, so there were fewer polling places. But some people still wanted to vote in person.
That led to “mega-precincts,” where check-in is harder, with PPE-clad workers who had less
training. So people waited.
Voting by mail seems an easier solution. But there’s a lot of pitfalls. Here’s some things to
consider.
1. Who gets a ballot? Is COVID an excuse? If elections officials do mass mailings, are
they sending out applications, or actual ballots? And who are they sending them to? If
it’s all “active” voters, how do they decide who they are? If you can apply online, how
secure is the site, and how do they verify identity? How do they protect the voter lists
from hacking? How often are lists purged? What if an “inactive” voter wants to vote?
2. How are ballots protected? Fraud happens, and look no further than 2018, when the
North Carolina threw out the election results in the 9th Congressional District because of
allegations of fraud by a GOP consultant who gathered up ballots in rural areas. That
district had no representative until a redo election in 2019. Things to ask: Do signatures
have to be notarized? If a ballot is rejected, is the voter told, and are they given a chance
to “cure” errors?
3. How are ballots returned? Is postage paid? Are there drop off boxes? How many?
What hours are they open? Is the cutoff RECEIVED by election day or POSTMARKED?
Will the Supreme Court decision on Wisconsin in April have widespread impact? Can
campaigns pay someone to go to the door of every house that requested a ballot and
offer to pick them up? If not, is anyone allowed to return your ballot? Your wife, your
roommate?
4. What in-person voting option remains? Some people don’t trust voting by mail, and
Democrats are especially concerned about that feeling being widespread among black
voters. If someone was sent a ballot and shows up to vote in person, how do the poll
workers know they didn’t already mail in a ballot? Are they tracking ballots? How many
in-person sites are there? In Georgia, they allowed people to file an affidavit invalidating
the absentee and then vote on the machine. There are going to be mistakes. (I know
because last week I got someone else’s ballot for today’s special election for a
Washington, D.C., city council seat.)
5. How are they counting absentees? States that have been doing this a long time have
machinery. States throwing it together may not – or may not know how to use the
equipment as well. Be prepared for long waits for results. And bad calls. The Associated
Press pulled back two calls about last week’s primaries, including one that said a House
incumbent had to win a runoff to keep his party’s nomination. In another race, the winner
was declared at 3 p.m. June 15, – nearly six days after the polls closed – because it was
a Nevada district with rural areas and they had to wait for the mail to come in. After a
week, there was still no call in the 7th District Democratic primary in Georgia. In 2018,
some races weren’t settled for weeks, leading to the presence of “maybe members” at
House orientation.
6. How are they paying for all this printing, postage, and staff overtime to process a
surge of ballot applications? A House bill in March had recommended $4 billion in grants
to states, and Congress approved $400 million – with a requirement that states or
counties put up 20 percent as a match. The House approved adding $3.6 billion in a $3
trillion coronavirus relief package approved in May. The Senate has not acted on that
measure.

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6 Questions to Ask about Mail-in Voting

Herb Jackson, politics editor, CQ Roll Call

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