Mail-in ballots stirring up conversations around voting practices

Boulder County communications specialist Mircalla Wozniak said, “As a Colorado resident, you should feel proud that we’re leaders in election innovation.”

A simple internet search of “mail voting Colorado,” reinforces this idea. With questions rising around the practice, there have been numerous media reports about voting my mail; many of which focus on Colorado.

Colorado implemented standard voting by mail in 2013. For some residents, the mail-in ballot method is essentially a no-brainer. But, nationally, only four other states regularly hold elections this way. It’s not much of a surprise that many questions are being brought up now.

“I think mail-in voting is horrible,” President Donald Trump said in April. However, he did not give evidence-based reasons to support this opinion. Many local experts, from across the political spectrum, seem to disagree. For example, former Denver elections director Amber McReynolds, who describes herself as an independent, called the state’s system the “platinum standard” for voting.

Similarly, former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, a Republican, said, “Mail-in voting is safe if you have the proper processes in place.” Other election experts--both those with hands-on election management experience and election scholars--agree that Colorado’s measures have made it a safe place to vote. Colorado’s voting numbers, 60% in the 2018 midterms, far outweighed the national average of 48% in the same election; and more voters took part in the 2020 primary than any other in state history.

These processes are very thorough and numerous. Not only does each county maintain well-curated mailing lists, but voters’ signatures are verified by a bipartisan team of election judges. If the ballot envelope’s signature doesn’t match that in the database, typically pulled from your driver’s license, the county clerk’s office has eight days to contact you to verify your ballot.

“Every signature discrepancy that isn’t verified goes to the district attorney. Not only do those signatures get flagged, we turn those over for investigation,” Wozniak said.

As part of the risk-limiting audit, Colorado and the other vote-by-mail states verify to make sure that there aren’t multiple ballots cast in different locations. On top of that, current Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, pointed out that since voting by mail is an analog, manual process, it’s more difficult to interfere with elections, “You can’t hack a paper ballot.”

It therefore comes as a bit of a surprise to see that voting by mail is so controversial. Even in Boulder County, the clerk’s office has been getting inquiries and concerns. However, Deputy Clerk Justine Vigil-Tapia gave further reasons why mail-in ballots are secure.

She explained that voters are given a lot of information about the voting process--when ballots are mailed, when a voter should expect to receive it, and most importantly, how to request a replacement if necessary. Boulder County also uses Track My Mail to monitor ballot delivery and has other accommodations such as in-person services to pick up a replacement ballot as well as drop boxes.

It’s important to note that mail-in ballots help with election processing. For most voters, the election stops on election day. However, the earlier election teams can start processing and counting votes, the less likely there’s a backlog of ballots. For voters, this can bring an added benefit. When a ballot is turned in, campaigns are notified that you’ve voted, which should mean a decrease, if not an all-together stop, of electioneering.

In light of COVID, mail-in ballots are safer, not only for voters, but also for election teams. Voting by mail inherently promotes social distancing, and especially with the more recent rise in COVID cases, that will be crucial in the general elections this November.