What to know about mail in voting as millions of voters opt for paper ballots

Voting by message has steadily go a much celebrated action for Americans to formed their ballot, however, it has travel nether onslaught pinch baseless accusations of fraud and mistrust.

And successful caller days they person come nether literal fire from suspected perpetrators.

But contempt these threats, predetermination officials and rule enforcement person worked rigorously to guarantee that those ballots are not only delivered and counted connected clip but besides free from immoderate type of fraud.

Director of nan Board of Elections Tyler Burns holds unfastened nan message sorter during a mail-in ballot processing objection astatine nan Board of Elections agency connected Sept. 30, 2024, successful Doylestown, Pa.

Hannah Beier/Getty Images, FILE

As of Tuesday, complete 25.6 cardinal Americans person returned a message ballot and complete 65 cardinal Americans, including subject members abroad, person requested an absentee ballot according to information from Election Lab astatine nan University of Florida.

At nan extremity of nan 2020 predetermination complete 65 cardinal votes were formed done nan mail, however, experts noted that because of nan pandemic, much voters chose this method.

Voting action trends complete nan decades

ABC News, MIT Election Data and Science Lab

In nan past 2 elections, erstwhile President Donald Trump has cast doubt connected voting by mail, contending that message ballots aren't unafraid enough.

There has been nary grounds to backmost his claims, which person been refuted by respective courts, predetermination offices, audits and different information checks successful respective elections.

Several studies person shown that fraud successful message ballot voting is rare, and successful those fewer instances, nan perpetrator was punished, and nan votes were ne'er counted.

One specified lawsuit took spot successful North Carolina successful nan 2018 midterms erstwhile Leslie McCrae Dowless, a governmental operative moving for Republican House campaigner Mark Harris "defrauded voters by collecting unfilled ballots and past filling successful nan remainder of it to favour nan campaign's candidate," according to a study from MIT's Election Lab.

As a consequence of nan incident, a caller predetermination was held, and Dowless was convicted of fraud successful 2020.

"Even galore scholars who reason that fraud is mostly uncommon work together that fraud pinch [vote by mail] voting seems to beryllium much predominant than pinch in-person voting," researchers astatine nan MIT Election Lab said successful a report.

Bill Nicholson drops disconnected a mail-in ballot, Oct. 15, 2024, successful Doylestown, Pa.

Hannah Beier/Getty Images

This twelvemonth is nary different erstwhile it comes to ensuring those votes are delivered and counted connected clip and accurately.

The first statement of information occurs astatine nan predetermination office.

Forty-two states require voters who ballot by message to use for nan absentee ballot, and those support processes are thorough, according to nan Brennan Center for Justice, a non-profit nationalist argumentation institute.

"Election workers comparison nan petition to nan voter's registration grounds to guarantee each ballot is sent to nan correct elector and that only 1 ballot is sent to each voter," nan non-profit wrote successful a report.

The remaining 8 states and nan District of Columbia message ballots to each registered voters and let them nan action of submitting nan ballot aliases voting successful person.

"Frequent mailings thief support elector registration records up to day truthful that ballots are sent to eligible voters astatine their existent address," nan Brennan Center said.

When voters formed their ballot and nonstop it successful nan mail, location are much checks.

Ballots are sent successful envelopes pinch unsocial search codes and barcodes that let them to beryllium tracked by officials. Several states let voters to way their ballots arsenic well.

A elector drops a ballot into nan ballot driblet container astatine nan Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, Oct. 23, 2024, successful Phoenix.

Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Postal Service is required by rule to prioritize delivering election-related message and has undertaken "extraordinary measures," to get nan deliveries through. That includes other deliveries and collections, typical pickups, specialized benignant plans astatine processing accommodation to expedite transportation to boards of elections, and section handling and proscription of ballots, according to nan agency.

The USPS said 99.9% of ballots were delivered wrong a week successful 2020 and 98.3% were delivered wrong 3 days.

The USPS's rule enforcement section examines message fraud, including if a missive aliases package has been tampered with, and investigates immoderate suspected case.

Additionally, galore states connection voters nan action of turning successful their absentee ballot successful personification to either an predetermination office, approved ballot container aliases early voting polling site.

All message ballots require astatine slightest 1 signature, pinch some, for illustration Pennsylvania, requiring 1 connected nan letter cover arsenic well. The mostly of authorities predetermination offices, 31, usage a signature verification strategy successful which predetermination workers inspect nan signature done aggregate records.

A personification drops disconnected a mail-in ballot, Oct. 15, 2024 successful Doylestown, Pa.

Hannah Beier/Getty Images

"Some officials person training that rule enforcement uses to observe forgeries. If predetermination workers are uncertain astir whether nan signatures match, aggregate states require ballots to beryllium sent to a bipartisan squad for a 2nd review," nan Brennan Center said.

The Brennan Center stressed that nan teams are made up of an adjacent number of Republican and Democratic workers.

If an correction is detected, predetermination officials successful 24 states are required to notify nan elector astir nan correction and let them to rectify nan correction by Election Day.

Pennsylvania does not person a statewide request to cure erroneous message ballots, however, a 2022 tribunal determination permitted region predetermination departments nan expertise to correct those errors.