Absentee vs. Mail-in Ballot, Explained

To the Editor:

I will pull up short of charging Mr. Hamilton of deliberate fabrication but I will accuse him of deliberately attempting to confuse the issue with conflating the difference between absentee ballots and the currently debated practice of mass mailing out ballots to putative registered voters. (“The Faith We Place in Other Elections,” by Lee Hamilton, Herald Opinion Page, Sept. 17, 2020)

The “distinguished scholar” surely knows the difference but in the interest of clarity, I will describe the difference. If I want to vote through the absentee system, I am obligated to make an application either on line, by mail or even in person at the courthouse in some cases. Once I submit my request, I am expecting to receive my ballot in time to make my vote known by properly filling out the ballot and the attestation that comes with it. I then mail or deliver the completed absentee ballot to the courthouse where it is sent to the office administering the election.

Should I attempt to vote in person, which is my obligation if able to do so on election day because the stated reason for my absence is no longer valid, the poll worker will inform me that they have already received my ballot by the absentee system and it is then declared void and I will vote in person.

The system in question is where every registered voter is sent a ballot to return with their votes. Should someone else intercept their ballot and send it in, they would not know that it was cast unless they went to the polls on election day and was informed that this had already occurred. Considering the number of people who fail to exercise their right to vote, this could result in as many as 30 percent of the ballots received being cast illegally through yet another form of identity theft.

I hesitate to think the number of names on the rolls who have moved or died that would never know that their vote was stolen. His argument therefore lacks a valid premise and falls on its face. The argument that it was not proven in the past or is rare also fails to take into account the most recent incidents of election failures that have occurred in the most recent primary elections.

That said, he does seem to have the credentials to comment on elections but himself appears to be attempting to disfranchise voters but claiming the sitting president is manipulating the election. Bottom line – vote in person.

Joseph J. Ogershok, Jr.

Tyrone