MYNORTHWEST NEWS

WA disproving claim that vote-by-mail systems encourage fraud

May 5, 2020, 7:12 AM

vote by mail, ballot...

Washington state ballot drop box. (KIRO Radio/Feliks Banel)

(KIRO Radio/Feliks Banel)

There is a nationwide push to make all elections vote-by-mail like we have here in Washington, in the face of claims that such a system encourages fraud.

Washington state leads charge to get US to vote by mail in November

We all know that President Trump is not a big fan of voting by mail.

“The mail ballots are corrupt, in my opinion,” he said last month. “They collect them, and they get people to go in and sign them. There are forgeries in many cases. It’s a horrible thing.”

But a new USA Today poll shows that two-thirds of America is ready to follow Washington and go vote-by-mail.

Fraud and corruption in voting is always a serious concern, but Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman said it’s not a major problem in our state, at least according to the numbers from 2018 general election.

“Is it perfect?” Wyman posited. “No, but are we seeing any evidence of rampant fraud? No, we’re not — 142 people out of 3.1 million ballots cast is a very small number.”

Wyman’s office has referred 142 cases of suspected voter fraud to the individual counties for further investigation and prosecution if necessary. These cases are looking at people that may have voted more than once or voted on behalf of someone who has died.

Could coronavirus have US voting by mail in November election?

Wyman said the state scours the elections looking for this.

“We work very hard to cross-match our list to other lists from the Department of Licensing and the Department of Corrections and the Social Security Death Index and other state’s databases,” she said.

Washington has had the option to use absentee ballots or vote-by-mail since 1983, and Secretary Wyman said the latest numbers prove there is no widespread voter fraud in our state.

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WA disproving claim that vote-by-mail systems encourage fraud