More Than 550,000 Primary Absentee Ballots Rejected In 2020, Far Outpacing 2016
Enlarge this image
Ballots are stored at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, on April 28, the final day of that state’s primary election. An NPR analysis finds that more than 500,000 absentee ballots were rejected in primaries this year.
Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
Election experts said first-time absentee voters are much more likely to make the kinds of mistakes that lead to rejected ballots. Studies also show that voters of color and young voters are more likely than others to have their ballots not count.
2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
Signed, Sealed, Undelivered: Thousands Of Mail-In Ballots Rejected For Tardiness
Most absentee or mail-in ballots are rejected because required signatures are missing or don’t match the one on record, or because the ballot arrives too late.
«If something goes wrong with any of this, that’s a problem writ large, but it’s also going to be one that hits some populations of the United States a bit harder than others, potentially disenfranchises different groups of folks at higher rates, said Rob Griffin of the Democracy Fund, which is conducting a sweeping survey of the 2020 electorate with researchers at UCLA.
2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
Another Post Office Election Challenge: Making Sure Ballots Are Postmarked
Griffin said, so far, about a quarter of those who voted in person in the last election say they plan to vote by mail this November. The same is true for those who have never voted before and will be casting their first ballots in this year’s election.
The numbers compiled by NPR are almost certainly an underestimate since not all states have made the information on rejected mail-in ballots available.
Battleground states
Even with limited data, the implications are considerable. NPR found that tens of thousands of ballots have been rejected in key battleground states, where the outcome in November — for the presidency, Congress and other elected positions — could be determined by a relatively small number of votes.
For example, President Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 by almost 23,000 votes. More than 23,000 absentee ballots were rejected in the state’s presidential primary in April. More than 37,000 primary ballots were also rejected in June in Pennsylvania, a state Trump won by just over 44,000 votes.
2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
Trump, While Attacking Mail Voting, Casts Mail Ballot Again
The numbers are also significant because of large partisan differences in how Americans plan to vote this fall. Democrats have expressed more interest than Republicans in voting by mail — 47% to 28% in the Democracy Fund/UCLA survey. Forty-eight percent of those who intend to vote for Joe Biden say they will use mail-in ballots, compared with 23% of Trump supporters.
With so much at stake, the political parties and candidates have made voting options, and the rules that surround them, a central part of their campaigns.
Trump has repeatedly blasted mail-in voting as ripe for widespread fraud despite a lack of evidence. At the same time, Republicans are encouraging their supporters to vote by mail. In fact, Trump and his wife, Melania, did so this week in Florida’s primary.
2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
FACT CHECK: Trump Spreads Unfounded Claims About Voting By Mail
For their part, Democrats are pushing widespread mail-in voting but are also concerned that many of their voters’ ballots could be rejected if the rules aren’t relaxed. They’re in court in more than half the states fighting to extend mail-in ballot deadlines and to waive witness and notary requirements. They also want voters to be given the opportunity to fix errors before their ballots are rejected.
Enlarge this image
Workers at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department work on tabulating mail-in ballots Tuesday in Doral, Fla.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Politics
Louis DeJoy Vows Post Office Can Handle Mail-In Ballots, In Senate Hearing
«The parties are making this political calculus right now, said Daniel Smith, a political scientist at the University of Florida. He said they’re trying to balance concerns about mail-in voting with the possibility that people won’t turn out in person due to the health risks of voting during a pandemic.
Smith added that the rejection numbers are only part of the picture. He said they don’t always take into account mail-in ballots that are initially accepted but then not counted because of other mistakes, such as a voter incorrectly choosing too many candidates or incorrectly circling a candidate’s name instead of filling in the bubble next to it.
Such errors are usually caught at the polling place and can be corrected before voters casts their ballots. Most voting machines will also not allow people to overvote accidentally, or choose too many candidates in a given race.
2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
Postal Delays, Errors In Swing States Loom Over Election
«Those mistakes are avoided when you vote in person, Smith said. «You have seven, 10 people who can assist you in terms of making sure that you know about the ovals having to be filled out. As a result, only about one-hundredth of a percent of in-person ballots are rejected compared with about 1% of mail-in ballots.
Enlarge this image
Research indicates that mail-in ballots from first-time voters and voters of color are more likely to be rejected than other voters.
David Ryder/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
David Ryder/Getty Images
2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
Poll: More Than Half Of Young People Lack Resources To Vote By Mail
They also said it’s crucial that voters know what to do so their ballots aren’t rejected. Multiple nonprofit groups and campaigns have launched social media and online efforts encouraging voters to request their mail-in ballots early, learn the rules and return their completed ballots as soon as possible — either by mail, at a secure drop box or at their local election office.
At their presidential nominating convention this week, Democratic leaders repeatedly urged supporters to make sure they have a plan to vote, in person or by mail. «We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and families do the same, former first lady Michelle Obama said.
Election officials of both parties are also trying to get the word out in an effort to limit ballot rejections. Many states have detailed instructions on their websites on how to get, fill out and return an absentee or mail-in ballot.
This summer, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson filmed a public service announcement where she filled out her own absentee ballot and explained the process step-by-step.
Pennsylvania, one of the states where the extent of rejected mail-in ballots might well determine the outcome of the election, is planning an ad campaign soon, urging people who have applied for absentee ballots to return them immediately, so they don’t risk having them not count because they arrived too late.
Обсудим?
Смотрите также:
