In my aunt's mail today was the form to request an absentee ballot. She hasn't voted in years, but is still registered. She put it in her pile to be shredded.
The envelope it came in is first class mail, so had she moved more than 12 months ago it would have been returned.
This is where ballot 'harvesting' happens. And yes, it would take a lot of effort. And I doubt it happens much in St Mary's.
But imagine an apartment complex. Someone stands by the mailboxes, asking if people would request the ballots for them, maybe offering to pay them. Request goes in, when the ballots are sent out, that someone is back by the mailboxes waiting. They gather the ballots and fill them in for their candidate.
There is a system in place for requesting ballots if you wish to vote but for whatever reason won't be able to physically be there on voting day. It always worked just fine. Sending everyone a request form is crazy, a waste of resources (paper and postage) and a clear opening to fraud.
The envelope it came in is first class mail, so had she moved more than 12 months ago it would have been returned.
This is where ballot 'harvesting' happens. And yes, it would take a lot of effort. And I doubt it happens much in St Mary's.
But imagine an apartment complex. Someone stands by the mailboxes, asking if people would request the ballots for them, maybe offering to pay them. Request goes in, when the ballots are sent out, that someone is back by the mailboxes waiting. They gather the ballots and fill them in for their candidate.
There is a system in place for requesting ballots if you wish to vote but for whatever reason won't be able to physically be there on voting day. It always worked just fine. Sending everyone a request form is crazy, a waste of resources (paper and postage) and a clear opening to fraud.