Concerns over mail-in voting are back in the spotlight as a Michigan resident received a ballot meant for a voter who doesn’t live there—sparking fears of broader election issues.
At a glance:
- Hillsdale College Vice President Robert Norton received a Washington, D.C., mail ballot for a voter who does not reside at his address.
- The incident has renewed concerns over the reliability of the mail-in voting system.
- Similar irregularities have occurred in Wisconsin, where an election official illegally obtained military absentee ballots.
Hillsdale College Vice President Robert Norton was puzzled when a mail-in ballot arrived at his Michigan home addressed to an unknown individual. The ballot, sent by the District of Columbia Board of Elections, was for a person named “Anne V. Palazzo”—someone Norton insists has not lived at his address for at least 40 years.
“Who submitted this, how did I end up getting it, and is it part of a broader scheme of some kind?” Norton questioned, raising concerns over how such errors could undermine the integrity of the absentee voting process.
In Washington, D.C., all active registered voters receive mail-in ballots, but voters can request them to be sent to alternative addresses if they will not be home during the election. Norton emphasized the importance of addressing these mistakes to ensure future confidence in the voting process.
This incident in Michigan is not the first time mail-in voting has sparked controversy. In Wisconsin, the issue gained attention when Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director Kimberly Zapata was convicted for obtaining absentee ballots under fake military names during the 2022 election. The fraudulent ballots were sent to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who turned them over to local authorities. Zapata received probation and community service for her actions, which exposed loopholes in the military absentee voting process.
Brandtjen, who continues to receive mail for fake military voters created during Zapata’s scheme, warned of the dangers of a lax registration system, particularly for military ballots. These incidents have prompted greater scrutiny of mail-in voting and its potential for fraud.
A recent report by the Government Accountability Institute highlighted mail-in ballots as one of the top 50 election threats, citing concerns over ballot manipulation and the difficulty of securing a proper chain of custody. The report noted that mail-in voting can pose risks to election integrity, especially in states with weaker safeguards.
These concerns are not new. In 2005, a bipartisan commission led by former President Jimmy Carter and ex-Secretary of State James Baker warned that mail-in voting could lead to increased fraud and contested elections, particularly in states with a history of election irregularities.
As scrutiny over mail-in ballots intensifies, the Republican National Committee has taken steps to challenge mail ballot distribution in places like Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The RNC claims the ballots lacked proper testing, a concern echoed in other states following recent election controversies.
With several high-profile incidents surfacing, the debate over the security and reliability of mail-in voting continues to be a contentious topic as Election Day approaches.
