While Trump offers confusion and conflict
messages on his position on providing additional funds to the U.S. Postal Service ahead of what is likely to be a record increase in post-election voting, the president focused his vote on ballot box, which is at the center of a Trump standing campaign arrangement in Pennsylvania.
“Some states use ‘dropboxes’ for the collection of Universal Mail-In Ballots,” Trump said
tweeted Monday. “So who will ‘collect’ the ballots, and what can be done about them before they tabulate? A rigged election?”
So, what are dropboxes and who can collect ballots from them?
Facts first: Trump is wrong in suggesting that there are widespread security concerns with one of the thousands of ballot boxes across the country. These boxes are specifically configured and designed to securely receive ballot papers. Experts say that only election officials handle and process ballots once they have been submitted. Under federal law, anyone who commits voter fraud could be fined up to $ 10,000 and spend a maximum of five years in prison for each act of fraud.
The U.S. Postal Service has warned nearly all 50 states that voters risk not getting their ballots back to polling stations in time to count due to layers in mail delivery, according to letters checked by CNN. Experts have recommended states make crucial investments in building these safe dropboxes to meet the upcoming demand for the November elections.
Dropboxes are located in safe places like courthouses, polling stations and sometimes outside built for 24/7 access. According to the U.S. Electoral Commission, these drop boxes are out [cost] about $ 6,000 each “and are made to be durable and safe. These boxes are made with strong materials such as steel and cemented to the ground.
The EAC recommends that additional security features, such as security cameras and so on, be installed with these drop boxes.
A Harvard University poll found that in 2016, the majority of voters in Colorado (73%), Washington (65%), and Oregon (59%) cast their ballots through a physical location such as an election office or dropbox.
Only election officials have access to the ballots if they are thrown in dropboxes, according to experts. These are the same people who deal with voting at polling stations and by mail.
“That’s part of the safety of dropboxes,” said Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at Brennan Center, CNN, “ensuring a proper, valid chain of custody.”
Weiser notes that dropboxes “do not introduce any kind of unique serious security issues” and added that election officials follow the same security practices they use when collecting all other votes.
You can read here about the security measures involved in processing polling stations, such as unique barcodes, signature signatures, and so on.
CNN’s Tara Subramaniam contributed to this article.
.
Related
