Vote-by-mail experiment reveals potential problems within postal voting system ahead of November election - CBS News
CBS did their own investigation into Mail-in voting, and it had disastrous results.
A week after initial ballots were sent,
most ballots appeared to be missing from the P.O. box.
"I don't see anything back there for you," a postal worker told Dokoupil when he received the mail. "That's all I have back there right now."
After asking for a manager and explaining the situation to them, the votes were found.
"They had them somewhere else," the postal worker said.
Then, another problem — missorted mail.
Out of the initial batch mailed a week earlier, 97 out of 100 votes had arrived. Three simulated persons,
or 3% of voters, were effectively disenfranchised by mail by giving their ballots a week to arrive.
In a close election, 3% could be pivotal.
Four days after mailing the second batch of mock ballots,
21% of the votes hadn't arrived.
"I'm scared that it
might get lost in the mail," potential voter Kim Tucker said. "I just want to make sure that my vote is submitted, like, I see that it's submitted, that it actually counts."
Another person, Shannon Zebley, said she "never" trusted the postal service and has "absolutely" had things lost in the mail in the past.
"I just don't trust the mail," yet another person, Laura Okechukwu said simply.
After nearly
15,000 votes arrived late in Philadelphia's June primary, Deeley, who helps oversee elections,
said voters are right to be wary.
"I can guarantee that I'm gonna get you your ballot, and
if I get it back in time, it's gonna be counted," she said. "
But I have no way of guaranteeing what happens in the postal service."
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