Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Election 2020
Miles Parks, NPR

Fact check: Is mail ballot fraud as rampant as President Trump says it is?

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Log inCreate a free Account

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
A mail-in ballot is displayed in Laguna Niguel, Calif.
A mail-in ballot is displayed in Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Robyn Beck | AFP via Getty Images

Voting rights groups and many Democrats are ratcheting up pressure to make mail voting more available nationwide in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but President Trump is standing in opposition.

"Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country, because they're cheaters" said Trump, during Tuesday's daily White House briefing. "They're fraudulent in many cases." He was responding to a question about Wisconsin, which proceeded with in-person voting Tuesday despite objections that the election should move to all mail-in ballots.

The president has been arguing mail-in ballots are frequently fraudulent for the past week, after originally saying voting reforms like expanded vote-by-mail shouldn't be implemented because of the political ramifications.

Election experts say Trump is partially correct, that there is slightly more fraud in mail-voting than in-person voting. But they caution that both can be done safely and securely, and that election fraud is extremely rare in all instances.

"Where there is fraud in the system, it really seems to be in mail balloting," said Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. "There's some, there's not a lot. I think there's a little bit."

In Tuesday's briefing, Trump specifically referred to people collecting other people's ballots, what's sometimes referred to as "ballot harvesting." This sort of collection, and subsequent alleged manipulation, led to an election being overturned in North Carolina in 2018.

But experts, especially those with experience in the handful of states that vote completely by mail, say states can implement things like ballot tracking, as well as pre-paid postage and ballot drop boxes which eliminate the need for voters to hand over their ballots to a third party.

Tammy Patrick, a former election official in Arizona and now a current senior adviser with Democracy Fund, told NPR in 2018 that government officials should resist the urge to write off a voting method that can make voting more accessible (and in the current case safer) for thousands of people because of a few isolated incidents.

"I think it's something we need to resist as a reaction," Patrick said. "If and when a bank gets robbed or a car gets stolen, we don't stop using banks or cars. We enforce the laws we have in place."

Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is proposing that mail-in-ballot to be sent to every registered voter in the country.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.