Wouldn't mail-in ballots actually provide a better defense against so-called voter fraud?
Every ballot sent to a registered voter would have its own unique barcode or product identification code on it. People could fill out the ballot at home and take a photo of it.
If someone makes duplicate copies, the duplicates and originals would be tossed out since it would have the same code. The voter would be notified if this happened and could take steps to challenge the decision.
If someone mailed in a ballot and then tried to vote in person, the system would recognize two ballots.
Ballots could be dropped off at certain public locations, post offices, govt bldgs, polling places, or any where there are cameras to record if someone is stealing ballots.
Voter registration rolls could be cross checked against death records to confirm if a ballot should be sent to the voter.
Not only would mail-in voting be safer, it would be a better check against voter fraud.
= new reply since forum marked as read
In the VBM state (Oregon) the outer envelope is identified with your name and a bar code. You are required to sign the back of this envelope for it to be counted. If the signature doesn't match your voter registration, then the ballot is held aside. As a voter, you can go online and check if your ballot was counted. If it was set aside because of a signature missing or mis-match, then you have an opportunity to correct the problem. Someone with an illness (broken arm) who might have had difficulty signing would be able to have their vote go through.
In California, where they have both VBM and in-person voting (I worked as a Poll Inspector for many years) the voter rolls at the polling locations have the registrations highlighted for people who requested absentee ballots. If someone comes in and tries to vote and their name shows that they have received a ballot at home, they are required to either turn in their VBM ballot or vote a provisional ballot.
The whole voter fraud thing is BS. People who aren't registered to vote can't vote. People cannot vote multiple times. You can't bus people in from a neighboring state to get them to vote. And both Oregon and the area of California where I lived (can't speak for the entire state) use paper ballots. They aren't hackable and they can be counted by hand if necessary.
Plus, the only actual instances of true voter fraud in recent years came from Republicans. The ballot harvesting in North Carolina last year comes to mind. And the Republican woman in Washington state who opened ballots and filled in races where the voter left the space blank.
In other words, I agree with you!
