Letters to the Editor: Voting by mail is safe

Our president is concerned about voting by mail. Fortunately, there is a good example of large-scale mail voting without significant fraud or confusion.

The State of California introduced permanent vote by mail (PVBM) in 2002. If you register for PVBM, you automatically receive a ballot by mail whenever there is an election in your area. Since 2019, all mail ballots include a postage-paid return envelope.

Time has shown that mail voters are more likely to vote than voters who go to the polls. For that reason, political parties have been working to convert their members to PVBM.

As a result, PVBM has become very popular. By 2008, most Californians voted by mail in the Primary. By 2012, most voted by mail in the General election. In 2018, nearly 2/3 of all ballots in both the Primary and General elections were by mail, and in the 2020 Presidential Primary, 72% of the vote – nearly 7 million ballots – were mail-in ballots. Even with late ballots, delays occurred only in very close races.

The Conservative Heritage Foundation, tracks voter fraud convictions. Since 2016 – five years – there have been only 15 convictions for election fraud. Six were for forging signatures on petitions, four for fraudulent registration, two for duplicate voting and only three for ineligible voters. None had anything to do with voting by mail.

California’s experience shows that large-scale voting by mail is safe, convenient and fraud free.

Larry Marks

Mount Shasta