Vote by mail is key to voting safely for some, but politicians have spread misinformation about its safety and security. These lies could prevent states from making it available in November, putting American lives at risk. 

We need to fight back against these lies with the truth about vote by mail:

Misinformation was even being shared by the President.

Let’s be clear: Mail-in ballots are secure. 

Oregon, for example, has sent more than 100 million mail-in ballots since 2000, with only a dozen cases of fraud. That's 0.0000001% of all votes cast. As one expert put it, “It is still more likely for an American to be struck by lightning than to commit mail voting fraud.”

Every state already uses some form of vote by mail with absentee ballots. 25% of voters vote by mail each election, including our military personnel serving overseas. Republican Governors and Secretaries of State support it, and even President Trump voted by mail this year! 

In fact, states with universal vote by mail tend to have more secure systems than those that don’t – vote by mail is the reason the Washington Post deemed Colorado the safest state to cast a ballot in. Here’s how secure vote by mail states like Colorado and Washington protect their voters and election systems:

  • Every ballot is a paper-verified ballot, making all votes traceable.
  • Only registered voters are mailed a ballot.
  • Signatures are cross-referenced with voter registrations to ensure accuracy.
  • Ballots with missing or invalid signatures are rejected, and the voter and/or law enforcement are notified.
  • Officials regularly conduct risk-limiting audits to ensure integrity, security, and an accurate count. 

With experts predicting that up to 70% of all votes could be cast by mail in the 2020 election, it’s critical that we correct the record. 

Share this page now so your friends and family have the facts about vote by mail. 

RepresentUs is America’s leading anti-corruption organization working city-by-city, state-by-state to fix our broken political system.