Chester County election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 general election in the United States at West Chester University, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in West Chester.
Matt Slocum / AP Photo
What other countries offer no-excuse mail-in voting?
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Robby Brod
Matt Slocum / AP Photo
Chester County election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 general election in the United States at West Chester University, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in West Chester.
Happy Fact Check Friday!
This week, former Trump political advisor Steve Bannon interviewed a self-described “Pennsylvania Election Fraud Watchdog” who made two baseless claims about no-excuse mail-in voting in Pennsylvania.
“Nobody else in the world uses this system,” she said. “Because it has multiple vectors for fraud.”
First, nine other countries offer no-excuse mail-in voting: Canada, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, S. Korea, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Second, there’s no proof that mail-in votes make elections less secure. Since no-excuse mail-in voting was signed into law in 2019, just five Pa. voters have been convicted of using them to commit fraud – at least three were registered Republicans.
Mail voting (also known as absentee voting) was first used during the Civil War as a way for allow soldiers to vote. Its usage has risen since the 1980s and surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and all states offer at least some form of mail voting. No widespread fraud was detected during the 2022 midterm elections anywhere in the country.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
