Trump Administration Continues Attacks on Absentee-by-mail Voting

President Trump has attacked the assumption that states can authorize absentee voting by mail, with ballots returned after Election Day. President Trump claims that such voting is subject to a high degree of voter fraud. In New York State, this is called “Early Voting by Mail.”

Such voting is popular with voters temporarily located outside the US, such as military and foreign service staff as well as college students living on campuses far from their parents’ homes. The current robust system of absentee voting effectively gives each college student the choice to register to vote at a parent’s house or to vote using a dorm address in a college town.

Under current state laws, the Board of Elections mails ballots to people with a standing request as soon as they are available, or as soon as a request can be processed. They use the United States Postal Service (USPS) to send the ballots to the requested address based upon the voter stating his address on record in the Registered Voter List (RVL).