{"id":21386,"date":"2020-07-18T05:39:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T05:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=21386"},"modified":"2020-07-24T13:53:20","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T13:53:20","slug":"research-on-voting-by-mail-says-its-safe-from-fraud-and-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/research-on-voting-by-mail-says-its-safe-from-fraud-and-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Research on voting by mail says it’s safe \u2013 from fraud and disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edie Goldenberg<\/a>, University of Michigan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As millions of Americans prepare to vote in November \u2013 and in many cases, primaries and state and local elections through the summer as well \u2013 lots of people are talking about voting by mail<\/a>. It is a way to protect the integrity of the country\u2019s voting system<\/a> and to limit potential exposure to the coronavirus, which continues to spread widely<\/a> in the U.S.<\/p>\n

I am a political scientist and part of a National Academy of Public Administration working group offering recommendations to ensure voter participation as well as public confidence<\/a> in the election process and the outcome during this coronavirus pandemic. To meet that goal, our work has found that state and local governments will need to make significant adjustments to their voting systems this year \u2013 changes that will likely require new federal funding.<\/p>\n

Our recommendations \u2013 which include ways to reduce health risks from in-person voting as well as to expand access to, and ease the process of, mail-in voting<\/a> \u2013 are based on a thorough review of the evidence.<\/p>\n

Some critics \u2013 including President Donald Trump \u2013 have cast doubt on the integrity of mail-in voting<\/a>, even though some of them have voted by mail<\/a> in the past. Conservative groups are suing to limit mail-in voting<\/a>, and some federal judges seem reluctant<\/a> to defend voters\u2019 rights if it means intervening in state-level decisions. The president\u2019s reelection campaign is suing to block mail-in voting at the same time it pushes his backers to be ready<\/a> to vote by mail.<\/p>\n

The evidence we reviewed finds that voting by mail is rarely subject to fraud, does not give an advantage to one political party over another and can in fact inspire public confidence in the voting process, if done properly.<\/p>\n