Molly McCarthy posted on September 15, 2020 12:35
Jonathan Schonsheck, professor emeritus of philosophy, wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Sunday, Sept. 13 issue of the Post Standard under the headline, Enough With All the Vote-by-Mail Fraud Hysteria; Know the Difference: A Ballot is Not a Vote - Moveoner, Ballot Fraud is Not Vote Fraud.
Here is the author's synopsis of the op-ed: A mailed ballot is a physical artifact. A “vote” is something “ethereal,” the duly recorded and tallied preferences of a qualified voter. A returned ballot does not result in an actual vote unless it passes all of a state’s “verification procedures” – a signature that matches the one on file with the Board of Elections, and perhaps other requirements, e.g., a witness, or the seal of a notary public. “Ballot fraud” can be committed by submitting a ballot forged by a foreign government, or harvested from unlocked mail boxes, or sent to a dead person or a live pet. So what?! Due to its failing the verification procedures, it will not result in the wrongful recording and tallying of preferences— it will not result in “vote fraud.” Be not afraid – or even concerned.