Absentee ballots can be returned by US Mail or in-person. Mailed ballots must be notarized unless certain criteria is met, such as incapacitated or confined at home due to any illness or having contracted chinavirus or at high risk due to eight recognized medical risk factors. There are a few other circumstances when an absentee ballot can be obtain but these circumstances require notarization. This is for election workers, prisoners who still have their right to vote, people in witness protection, and people who unable to vote in their jurisdiction on election day.
Mail-in ballots can be returned by US Mail only (makes sense). They must be received by 7:00 PM on Election Day. All mail-in ballots must be notarized; no exceptions.
Isn't this the sensible approach? Harvesting is impossible. All mailed in ballots are assured to be the product of the actual registered voter, rather than the possibility of a surrogate. Any mistakes with respect to ballots being mailed to the wrong place can't turn into opportunistic fraud. Though I expect instances of this would be rare, since no unsolicited ballots are being sent out. How is Missouri ensuring all voters are aware of their options? Every registered voter, rather than a ballot, is being mailed a very well-written, tri-fold brochure which explains every step for each option, how-to's, deadline dates, etc. Furthermore, there are hundreds of ads running on television, radio, and social media sharing the state's election websites, GoVoteMissouri.com and sos.mo.gov/LEA.
I'd love to hear legitimate arguments against this approach being used nationwide. It doesn't even require a state ID, as I understand it, since a notary has a variety of means to validate a signatory. In the end, it is up to them to determine the signer's identity based on the available evidence. Furthermore, a notary will never know the voter's political preferences because it is the sealed ballot ENVELOPE which gets notarized, not the open ballot itself.
Mail-in ballots can be returned by US Mail only (makes sense). They must be received by 7:00 PM on Election Day. All mail-in ballots must be notarized; no exceptions.
Isn't this the sensible approach? Harvesting is impossible. All mailed in ballots are assured to be the product of the actual registered voter, rather than the possibility of a surrogate. Any mistakes with respect to ballots being mailed to the wrong place can't turn into opportunistic fraud. Though I expect instances of this would be rare, since no unsolicited ballots are being sent out. How is Missouri ensuring all voters are aware of their options? Every registered voter, rather than a ballot, is being mailed a very well-written, tri-fold brochure which explains every step for each option, how-to's, deadline dates, etc. Furthermore, there are hundreds of ads running on television, radio, and social media sharing the state's election websites, GoVoteMissouri.com and sos.mo.gov/LEA.
I'd love to hear legitimate arguments against this approach being used nationwide. It doesn't even require a state ID, as I understand it, since a notary has a variety of means to validate a signatory. In the end, it is up to them to determine the signer's identity based on the available evidence. Furthermore, a notary will never know the voter's political preferences because it is the sealed ballot ENVELOPE which gets notarized, not the open ballot itself.
