COVID-19, along with mass unemployment will see many millions electing to vote from home. The sheer number of blank ballots in circulation (sent to wrong addresses or inactive voters) will inevitably lead to an increase in fraud.
The argument
2020 is a unique election year. Whereas in the past, a minority of US citizens voted by mail, this year given the massive unemployment rate, tanked economy, and raging deadly pandemic, many more people will opt for mail in voting. About half of US states’ electoral infrastructure is not set up for the unprecedented scale of mail in ballots which are expected in the 2020 presidential election. Due to this year’s enormous scale, critics of mail in voting worry about the number of blank ballots in circulation (a result of them being sent to wrong addresses or inactive voters).
Premises
Counter-arguments
Claims that mail-in voting has led to increased voter fraud lacks evidence according to many reputable sources.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] Administrative unreadiness is an argument about delays, errors and cost rather than about fraud, and the "about half of states" figure comes with no source. Several states had run all-mail elections for years by 2020, which is the evidence base this premise would need to engage. [Rejecting P2] The premise says only that critics "worry" about blank ballots, and worry is not evidence. Turning an unreturned ballot into a fraudulent vote requires intercepting it, producing a signature that matches the one on file, and evading the verification and ballot-tracking systems states operate — none of which the argument addresses. As the counter-argument notes, documented mail-ballot fraud has been rare and prosecuted, and the conclusion calls for banning a method on the strength of a premise that establishes only administrative strain.