Vote-by-mail experiment reveals potential problems

[MechAg94]

Vote-by-mail experiment reveals potential problems within postal voting system ahead of November election
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vote-by-mail-ballot-counted-election/

For the experiment, a P.O. box was set up to represent a local election office. A few days after the initial ballots were mailed, 100 more were sent.

The mock ballots used the same size envelope and same class of mail as real ballots, and even had mock votes folded in to approximate the weight. The biggest difference: real mail-in ballots have a logo that is meant to expedite them. "CBS This Morning" was unable to include those the trial.

A week after initial ballots were sent, most ballots appeared to be missing from the P.O. box.

Out of the initial batch mailed a week earlier, 97 out of 100 votes had arrived. Three simulated persons, or 3% of voters, were effectively disenfranchised by mail by giving their ballots a week to arrive. In a close election, 3% could be pivotal.

Four days after mailing the second batch of mock ballots, 21% of the votes hadn't arrived.

3% is a lot and that is just a couple hundred letters. 

[Jim147]

If you want to vote by mail, request it. Some districts have 90 to over 100% voter registration to population. A nation wide vote by mail will be a never ending shitshow that will still be going after February next year.

[MillCreek]

Washington state first began voting by mail in special elections in 1983, began permanent absentee voting by mail in 1991, and virtually all counties switched to all mail ballots in 2005.  Other than some races not being decided until two weeks after election day after all the ballots trickle in and are counted, it has been a pretty trouble-free process. I have voted only by mail since 1991.  Starting two years ago, you don't even have to put a stamp on the ballot.  You can mail the ballots or drop them into a collection box. We usually drop them in the box since collection boxes are outside libraries, amongst other places, and I go to the library often.