There's a long history of ballot harvesting fraud in Florida. That's a fact. It's also probably 'rampant' compared to other forms of fraud.

But it's also fact that Florida Republicans haven't done anything about it.

In fact, they've made vote-by-mail fraud easier.

THREAD https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1250067500190089217

First, the facts: Between 2010 and 2015 alone, 20 people in Florida were charged with voter fraud relating to absentee ballots.

Many of those charges were pleaded down or dismissed, but still. These are people who were *caught*.

It's likely much more common.

@luluramadan, @alexseltzer and I investigated it in Palm Beach County. There was fraud committed in races involving several Democrats in '16, but no suspect was ID'd by @aronberg's office

We found other suspicious elections in Palm Beach County also. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/palm-beach-county-voter-fraud-state-attorney-finds-crimes-suspect/buShkHum7thKuTKE8F69QO/

Now, the history:

In the 90s, there were safeguards against absentee (aka vote-by-mail) fraud.

You needed the signature of two witnesses on each ballot you mailed in.

It wasn't perfect, but it made catching fraud easier: if you saw the same people 'witnessing' ballots, well,

In '98, the Legislature reduced that requirement to one witness signature.

But they added something important: they prohibited nearly everyone from possessing more than 2 ballots.

Both were short-lived.

The Republican Legislature eliminated the law against possession of more than 2 ballots in 2001.

The witness signature requirement was gone by 2004.

And both Republicans and Democrats have resisted calls to protect the system since then.

In 2012, a Miami-Dade grand jury said the witness requirement and possession laws should be brought back.

Were they? Lawmakers said 'no.'

So why is there a push to crack down on fraud now?

Because it's politically convenient.

BUT ... and it's a big BUT...

... it doesn't diminish the fact that the state's vote by mail laws are borderline INSANE.

In Florida, a candidate is allowed to go door to door taking people's ballots!

Would you hand over your ballot to them at a voting site? Of course not.

There are other, simple things that would protect the system as well.

One example:

Candidates and parties get access to secret voter data that allows them to know when someone is sent a vote-by-mail ballot, and when they've mailed one in.

Why is this risky?

It "effectively paints a bulls-eye target on the back of every vulnerable absentee voter," that 2012 grand jury wrote.

Those candidates and parties know when to go to someone's house to get the person's ballot.

That loophole should be eliminated, the grand-jury said.

Predictably, it wasn't. (Republicans have controlled the Legislature/governor's office since '98)

So forgive me if the calls to clean up the vote-by-mail system ring a little hollow right now.

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