As the election creeps closer, tensions are escalating throughout the U.S., leading to some people committing election crimes. These crimes, which include ballot box burning and fraud are presenting a huge problem as the government has to sort through the false to find the truth.
In Mesa County alone, at least 12 ballots have been to be intercepted and sent back. Colorado’s Secretary of State’s Office found these during the signature verification process, but by then three had already been counted. The Secretary of State’s Office was able to contact the voters and confirm that they had never received a mail-in ballot, and the votes were then disqualified and subtracted.
While voter fraud presents a problem, this isn’t the end of voters’ troubles. In Washington, Nevada, and Oregon ballot boxes have been burned, making all ballots inside unreadable. This may not have presented a problem if the states were able to identify whose ballots were in the boxes, but they are unable to do so.
Finally, certain votes in Pennsylvania that did not include a required envelope were not counted. According to law, they should be able to cast a new in-person vote on election day because their other vote is invalid. However, there has been some political unrest as Republicans have taken this case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to argue that these voters should not be able to recast a vote.
All these problems with the voting system this year are putting stress on the average voter who is trying to submit a legal, countable vote. As the electron draws nearer we can only hope that these complications are solved and eliminated in the future.
