Voting By Mail

I have seen some troubling posts on Facebook and elsewhere about voting by mail. These posts proclaim that voting by mail is rife with the potential for fraud or is already rife with fraud and they wrongly equate standing in a long line to vote in person with standing in line at the grocery store. A lot of these posts parrot what Trump or his personal henchman, Attorney General William Barr is spouting.

When I lived in Arizona, we had the option of receiving our ballot in the mail and to either mail it in or turn it in at our local polling place on Election Day. Each election cycle I chose to receive my ballot by mail and to mail it in at my leisure. It was a very convenient way of exercising my right to vote. It was especially convenient as it allowed me time to read and research the myriad citizen initiatives and constitutional amendments on the ballot.

Contrary to what Trump has stated out loud, since the voters of Arizona have had the option of voting by mail, Republicans have won elections in the state. In fact, Republicans control all three branches of government.

Also, why is it okay for Trump and his toadies to vote by mail (via absentee ballot) but it isn't okay for the average person? Why must a person choose between taking time off work to go stand in line for many hours because there are too few polling places, too few poll workers and too few voting machines? Why shouldn't the average person have the same luxury of voting by mail as the President of the United States?

I am an advocate for voting by mail. I think it should be expanded and I think it should be protected. It will allow all of us to easily exercise our right to vote. Shouldn't everyone be for that?