1. As a former elections commissioner, I have witnessed firsthand the ins and outs of election administration.

I’m going to share some of what I’ve learned about how public officials protect our mail ballots and ensure the accuracy of every vote.



THREAD:

2. You must be a registered, eligible voter to receive your ballot by mail.

3. Your address must be current—mail ballots cannot be forwarded to another address.

4. Ballots are printed on special card stock, and different jurisdictions have different races and initiatives on their ballot. This makes widespread duplication of ballots incredibly difficult.

5. Your ballot must be returned inside an official government envelope that is personalized with your name and address and mailed directly to you. No other envelope will suffice.

6. You must sign the outside of your return envelope, and that signature must match the signature on your registration card for your vote to count. Signature matching is very strict.

7. Most states also mark each ballot with a unique bar code to identify each voter, making near-impossible to replicate.

8. The @USPS coordinates with elections departments and flags any ballots that appear to deviate in even minor ways from typical procedure.

9. Attempting to forge a signature or coerce a voter is both a federal and state crime with stiff penalties.

10. If you know someone who thinks mail voting is subject to fraud or abuse, send them this thread.



This is another good resource: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/trumps-shaky-warning-about-counterfeit-mail-in-ballots/.

11. Since many have asked: signature verification processes can range from thorough and effective to blatantly discriminatory. Not claiming that every step here is good—just that current protocols are effective at guarding against fraud and abuse.