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A common theme I run into as I interview election officials, after the President tweets something misleading or false about elections, is exhaustion
There's your typical fear about the slow erosion of Democracy's norms, peaceful transfer of power, sure...
But I think what isn't talked about all the time is the fact that the thousands of people running U.S. elections were handed a REALLY tough hand this year
But I think what isn't talked about all the time is the fact that the thousands of people running U.S. elections were handed a REALLY tough hand this year
Elections are perennially underfunded... And these local and state officials have spent the past few years worrying about cyber threats... And then you layer a pandemic on that, and exponentially increase mail voting needs, and severely hamper your ability to recruit poll workers
It is just SO much to deal with... So when the president tweets things out that aren't true, it's these people who have to spend their days setting the record straight, correcting people.
With everything else they have to worry about; it's another challenge stacked on top
With everything else they have to worry about; it's another challenge stacked on top
For a breakdown of exactly why today's claims are wrong, you can read this piece. The TLDR version is ballots are different in every single county across the U.S., and scanners literally won't read the ballot even from a previous election in that county https://www.npr.org/2020/06/22/881598655/fact-check-trump-spreads-unfounded-claims-about-voting-by-mail?live=1
Other safeguards include signature verification, barcodes...
The falsehood depends on people thinking absentee ballots are counted en masse and not connected to voters on the rolls. Which isn't true. Each ballot is verified to have come from someone who requested it
The falsehood depends on people thinking absentee ballots are counted en masse and not connected to voters on the rolls. Which isn't true. Each ballot is verified to have come from someone who requested it
Polling shows that the only people who really oppose mail voting are Republicans in states where it's not already happening at a high rate (33% or more)
When Republicans use mail voting (therefore learn how it works) they like it and want access https://www.npr.org/2020/06/04/864899178/why-is-voting-by-mail-suddenly-controversial-heres-what-you-need-to-know
When Republicans use mail voting (therefore learn how it works) they like it and want access https://www.npr.org/2020/06/04/864899178/why-is-voting-by-mail-suddenly-controversial-heres-what-you-need-to-know
