Voting by mail has been becoming more common at the state level in the past few years, particularly in western states such as Utah, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, said Patrick Miller, associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas.
Some of the states hold the entire election by mail. Until this year, voting by mail often has found a lot of bipartisan support, he said. Republicans in Utah introduced it there, he added. Despite what President Trump may be saying about fraud, there is very little fraud associated with voting by mail, no more nor less than any other form of voting, he said.
“It is, as a general rule, safe and secure,” Miller said.
It’s easy to distort the public perception of voting by mail with comments about fraud as voters are seeing a little different form of voting, he added.
This year, mail ballots are popular in Kansas, as some voters may be trying to avoid crowds and the risk of COVID-19.
The rules on mail ballots change from state to state, he said. Kansas is offering voting in person, advance voting by mail and advance voting at polls. The mail ballots can arrive in the mail at the Election Office after Election Day, he said, and still be valid if they are postmarked by Election Day and received by the Friday afterward.
Sometimes there are people who want to portray the results on election night as the real results and who think the later changes are not real, he said. As the later votes come in, there is a temptation of some people to discredit the process to portray those changes as illegal, he said, when they are not.
This year, with an increase in mail ballots, the results on election night may not be the final results, he said, if the results are close.
“If ballots are postmarked by Election Day they have until the last mail delivery on Friday to arrive at the Election Office,” Miller said.
While it could turn an election night winner into a loser, those votes arriving in the mail from Wednesday through Friday are still valid votes, he said.
“So we may see some delay this year in knowing the election winners,” Miller said.
Traditionally, mail ballots do not favor either party. This year, however, it has been partisan, with Democrats encouraging people to vote by mail, he said, while President Trump has been discouraging it. This year’s trend of seeing Democrats requesting more mail ballots than Republicans is not typical, he added.
“Not every voter who requests a ballot returns it,” Miller said. It’s common in Kansas that about 20 percent who request ballots don’t return it and don’t vote, he added.
This year they are seeing a substantial increase in ballots returned here, he said. Requested ballots that aren’t returned are not fraud, they’re just missing ballots, he said.
In Kansas, if voters procrastinate on returning the mail ballot and still have it on Election Day, they are allowed to go to a polling place while it’s open and hand it to them, he said.
The substantial changes this year with mail voting, he said, are that election results can take longer to know; and that with Democrats requesting a lot of ballots, Republicans may be getting more votes on Election Day. The mail ballots may bring in more Democratic votes.
Another possible change to watch is user error, he said.
“The biggest problem with mail ballots is people do not follow the rules,” Miller said.
Ballots that did not qualify in the primary were those where voters did not follow the rules, did not get the ballot in the mail on time, or waited until the last minute and it took too long to get there, he said.
“The onus is on the voter to make sure it gets to the Election Office,” Miller said. If it takes too long and it isn’t put in the return mail on time, it’s your fault, not the state’s fault, he said. They don’t have to count it if it’s not there.
Another problem that disqualifies ballots is not filling them out correctly, he said. In Kansas, voters have to fill out the ballot and sign the envelope, he added. If voters don’t sign it or sign in the wrong place, it may be a reason to disqualify your ballot as well, he said.
Miller said the best advice for voters is to be responsible, request your ballot early, return it early as soon as you get it and then verify if it’s received. Voters can call the Election Office to see if it has been received, or they can check the Voter View website in Kansas, which lists when ballots are received. In some counties, voters can take their mail ballots to a secure drop-off box, and don’t have to use the postal service to get it back, he said. Wyandotte County allows voters to drop off mail ballots on Election Day at polling places during the times they are open.
“Voters have to be responsible,” he said. “They have to know the rules. The rules for mail ballots in Kansas are different from Missouri and other states.”
States differ about when they need to be postmarked by or received by, he said. In some states, they need to be received by the day before the election.
“In Kansas you’re OK mailing your ballot on Election Day as long as it gets there by the Friday after the election,” he said.
Don’t ask a friend in another state what the rules are, he added. The rules are different there.
One hundred percent of the responsibility of making sure your vote counts is on you as the voter, and it’s your job not to fail, he said.
Will allegations of voter fraud mentioned by the president this year have any effect on voters?
“The biggest thing we know about voter fraud is people are very cynical about our political system,” Miller said. “People think voter fraud exists when they lose an election. They always say the other side cheated.”
A lot of Americans have a knee-jerk reaction to believe in fraud, although not much of it actually exists, Miller said. The few cases they do have are high-profile.
“In reality, they should have a lot of faith in our political system because it does work the majority of the time,” he said. “We can vote safely and just have to do it responsibly.”
“If you are going to vote, you have a lot of options, no matter how cynical you are, and voting by mail is a safe and secure one,” Miller said, “even if you think the whole system is rigged against you.”
COVID-19 has affected the election this year, not just the candidates, but the campaigns, staff and volunteers, he said.
“Voter contact hasn’t stopped, but there is less of it, and it’s being done more cautiously,” Miller said. COVID-19 is an issue a lot of voters want to hear about, and it is interesting to note the candidates who want to talk about it and those who don’t, he said.
Whether the issue is 911 or some other crisis, candidates need to address it at some point, he said. It’s a little different because it’s a pandemic, and that brings challenges.
“If a candidate wants to be successful with anxious voters, they need to engage with the issue at some point,” Miller said.