Mail Voting

We’ve seen numerous social media posts and public accusations falsely claiming that drop boxes, voting by mail, or absentee voting are vehicles for mass voter fraud. The reality is that mail ballots have been successfully used in the United States for over 150 years, and in that time, states have developed layers of security to protect against fraud.

The movement to vote by mail reached new levels with the 2020 elections and the COVID-19 pandemic, and although it subsequently declined by more than 10 points in 2022, mail voting comprised 30.3% of the turnout for the 2024 election according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Voting by mail has key benefits beyond increased voter access and engagement. States with universal vote-by-mail often see significant cost savings, in part because of diminished costs due to closing in-person polling locations, reducing the number of temporary poll workers needed, lowering equipment costs, and decreasing need for provisional ballots.

Notably, a 2020 Stanford University study found that universal vote-by mail “does not appear to affect either party’s [Democrat or Republican] share of turnout” nor “increase either party’s vote share.”

At the same time, voter fraud related to ballots sent by mail or placed in drop boxes is extremely rare — so rare that multiple independent analyses have shown that it is more likely that someone will be struck by lightning than commit mail ballot fraud.

An array of security measures safeguards the security of voting by mail:

• Many jurisdictions allow voters to track their mailed ballot to see when it has been received and accepted. This is the best way to know your individual vote has been counted.
• Before a mail-in ballot is counted, election officials verify it by checking information on the ballot envelope against what they have on file to ensure they match. Some states use barcodes to track ballots and prevent duplicate votes.
• Once received, mail-in ballots are kept in a secure location until they are counted, then returned to secure storage afterward.
• Most jurisdictions allow members of the public and designated observers of both parties to watch the ballot counting process, including mail-in ballots, which ensures transparency.
• Post-election audits confirm whether the results of an election accurately reflect the intentions of the voters.

Numerous studies and audits conducted by election administrators and independent experts have confirmed that mail-in voting fraud is extremely rare. The instances of fraud that do occur are often isolated and quickly addressed, and legal penalties are severe, including jail time.

While practices vary by state, among the most common is monitoring drop boxes by video surveillance or with bipartisan teams of election workers to ensure that votes are not stolen or tampered with. Another widely used method is ensuring that bipartisan teams are present when mail ballots are handled, including when they are processed and counted.