Mail-in voting is off to a rocky start.
A new report reveals that mail-in ballots from a South Carolina election mysteriously turned up in Maryland this week.
The primary is on June 9, but mail-in voting for the primary has already begun.
As of this writing, there are already 20 percent more mail-in ballots for the election than there were in the entire 2018 primary.
Critics of mail-in voting cite concerns over voter fraud, ballot harvesting, and election integrity.
The fact that ballots from South Carolina suddenly appeared in Maryland, which is over 523.1 MILES away, isn't a good sign.
More details on this, as well as other mail-in voting fiascos, below:
President Trump has been a staunch, vocal opponent of mail-in voting... and for good reason!
Democrats spent the last 3 years investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016.
Yet... Democrats appear more likely than Republicans to support vote-by-mail, which raises the risk of voter fraud.
Even if voter fraud isn't as widespread as many people fear, the logistics of mail-in voting are being called into question as South Carolina ballots were suddenly found in Maryland.
Fox News reports:
South Carolina election ballots reportedly ended up in Maryland this week, after mail-in voting for the Palmetto State’s June 9 primary has already begun, according to local news reports.
South Carolina election officials may cut ties with the company they used, Minnesota printer SeaChange, over the mix-up after about 20 Charleston County absentee ballots were found outside the state, the reports say.
Election officials say this isn’t the first absentee ballot issue they’ve had with the company, which prints and mails ballots for 13 South Carolina counties.
Some voters in Greenville County received the wrong absentee ballots when the Democratic presidential primary and the special election for sheriff were held just 10 days apart, Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire told the Post and Courier. Voters in Charleston received ballots that were folded in a way that made them tough to read by scanning machines.
In a year that will see record numbers of absentee voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, the election integrity of absentee voting has become a major issue, particularly among Republicans who warn of possible voter fraud.
With less than three weeks before the June 9 primary for state and local seats, South Carolina has already issued 20 percent more absentee ballots than the total for the 2018 primary, according to Whitmire.
This comes after November 2018 Richland County failed to count 1,040 votes, submitting results two days after the S.C. Democratic primary because election officials realized they could not account for dozens of ballots. In March 2020, Richland County again realized it was short dozens of absentee ballots, forcing a recount by hand.
The fight over vote-by-mail is poised to become a national debate as COVID-19 continues to create a new normal.
Far-left Democrats claim that voting in person increases the likelihood of contracting COVID-19.
However, with proper social distancing measures and healthy hygiene, we can ensure a safe and secure election.
But it's not just South Carolina.
Issues with mail-in voting have been happening across the county.
The Western Journal reports that New Jersey had its own wave of potential voter fraud:
According to WNBC, Paterson, New Jersey, was a hot spot of allegations of corruption after residents claimed that they never voted in this month’s local elections, despite records showing they mailed in a ballot.
“We did not receive vote by mail ballots and thus we did not vote,” voter Ramona Javier told the station.
”This is corruption. This is fraud,” she said when shown a list of names of people who voted, including her name, according to WNBC.
She said she has eight relatives and neighbors who are listed as voting who say they never received ballots.
City Councilman Luis Velez told WNBC there are more cases like Javier’s.
“Where is the democracy in this? Where is the fair process?” Velez said, demanding that the FBI and state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal take action.
“FBI and Attorney General – you went to school just because you want to be a law enforcer? Then enforce the law,” Velez said. “Lock them up. Show them that we have law here and that no one can be above the law.”
In addition to the allegations from Velez and Javier, postal workers reported finding bundled ballots, 800 of which were thrown out by the Passaic County Board of Elections, WNBC reported.
Frank Filippelli, an unsuccessful city council candidate, called the election “an embarrassment,” according to NorthJersey.com.
“If the city’s residents don’t trust the electoral system, if they think it’s rigged, they are not going to want to vote and they not going to trust the people who are declared winners,” Filippelli said. “If we have candidates who are willing to steal votes to get elected; what are they willing to do when they get in office?”
There are many potential pitfalls of mail-in voting.
Trying to change the entire electoral process months before a national election is not a wise or strategic move.
Rather, Democrats should be focused on ensuring that voters are able to vote safely at the polls while also protecting the integrity of our election outcomes.
If they truly cared about the integrity of our elections, especially after three years of investigating Russia-Russia-Russia, they would want to ensure that only qualified American citizens are actually casting ballots.
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