by Dottye Ricks
During October, National Voter Education Month, the League of Women Voters of Vermont emphasizes that mail-in voting is secure against fraud and tampering.
Here’s what you need to know.
Election officials use multiple layers of security measures to ensure safe and secure mail-in voting, including:
1. Verifying voter registration against state and federal databases
2. Mailing ballots only to authenticated registered voters
3. Matching signatures on the ballot with voters’ signature on file
4. Contacting the voter if the signature is inconsistent or missing
5. Implementing security features that prevent individuals from voting more than once and submitting ballots on behalf of others
6. Sending ballots by non-forwardable mail in clearly marked envelopes with specialized security protocols like opaque envelopes, tamper-evident seals, and privacy sleeves.
7. Immediately cancelling any ballots that are returned as undeliverable.
8. Tracking every mail-in ballot so that both election officials and voters can follow their ballot during the mailing process and ensure it is delivered and counted
9. Investigating and prosecuting fraud where suspected
10. Imposing severe criminal penalties on anyone attempting to evade security measures which are five years in prison and fines of $10,000 for each act of fraud under federal law.
To read more, visit www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/mail-voting-accuracy and https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f0cxGEvuqJ-aYl0nRQyq62Glo6bWquXC/view.