Ballot harvesting

Extracted Attributes

• Definition

  The gathering and submitting of completed absentee or mail-in voter ballots by third-party individuals, volunteers, or workers

• Alternative Names

  Ballot collecting, ballot chasing, ballot trafficking, third-party ballot collection

• Critics' Arguments

  High probability for vote misappropriation, lack of oversight, and potential for election fraud

• Proponents' Arguments

  Enfranchises voters who live in remote areas, lack transportation, are incapacitated, or are in hospital or jail

• Primary Country of Practice

  United States

Timeline

• Allegations of ballot harvesting tied to election fraud are widely reported in the media during the U.S. national elections. (Source: FindLaw: What Is Ballot Harvesting?)

  2020-11-03

• Texas prosecutes a volunteer deputy registrar for voter fraud in connection with ballot harvesting from a 2018 utility board election. (Source: Wikipedia: Ballot collecting)

  2022-07-01

• Following disappointing election results, Trump-aligned organizations and candidates pivot to launching large-scale 'ballot chasing' operations. (Source: Wikipedia: Ballot collecting)

  2022-11-08

Ballot collecting

Ballot collecting, also known as ballot harvesting or ballot chasing, is the gathering and submitting of completed absentee or mail-in voter ballots by third-party individuals, volunteers or workers, rather than submission by voters themselves directly to ballot collection sites. It occurs in some areas of the U.S. where voting by mail is common, but some other states have laws restricting it. Proponents of ballot collection promote it as enfranchising those who live in remote areas or lack ready access to transportation, are incapacitated or in hospital or jail. Critics of ballot collection claim high probability for vote misappropriation or fraud.

Web Search Results

• Ballot collecting - Wikipedia

  icon Ballot collecting, also known as ballot harvesting or ballot chasing, is the gathering and submitting of completed absentee or mail-in voter ballots by third-party individuals, volunteers or workers, rather than submission by voters themselves directly to ballot collection sites. It occurs in some areas of the U.S. where voting by mail is common, but some other states have laws restricting it. Proponents of ballot collection promote it as enfranchising those who live in remote areas or lack ready access to transportation, are incapacitated or in hospital or jail. Critics of ballot collection claim high probability for vote misappropriation or fraud. ## Policy in the United States [...] Many Republicans, notably 2020 presidential candidate Donald Trump, long criticized "ballot harvesting" and the early voting it enables as rife with fraud and cheating, encouraging their voters to vote only at polling places on election day. After disappointing Republican results in the 2020 and 2022 elections, some Trump-aligned organizations such as Turning Point USA recognized they needed to adopt similar ballot collection methods, which they named "ballot chasing." Turning Point said it would raise money to create "the largest and most impactful ballot chasing operation the movement has ever seen." Kari Lake, who refused to concede her loss in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race, said she would launch "the largest ballot chasing operation in our nation's history." ### Arizona [...] In July 2022, Texas prosecuted a volunteer deputy registrar for voter fraud in connection with ballot harvesting. The registrar came under scrutiny after it was discovered that about 275 people in a rural town of 2,500 registered to vote using the same mailing address for a 2018 utility board election. She pled guilty to 26 felony counts of voter fraud and was sentenced to probation. ## References Wikimedia Foundation Powered by MediaWiki

• What Is Ballot Harvesting? - FindLaw

  Fact-Checked The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area. “Ballot harvesting” is collecting completed absentee ballots from voters and delivering them to polling places or election offices. These efforts often focus on helping elderly voters or people who live in remote areas ensure their ballot gets in on time. [...] Ballot harvesting, or ballot collection, is allowed by law in most states if the voter is unable to deliver a mail-in or absentee ballot to the polling station themselves. Whether ballot harvesting is legal depends on your state’s absentee voting laws and mail-in voting rules. ### Absentee Voting Nearly every U.S. citizen has the right to vote. Not everyone can get to a polling place during election time to vote in person. This can happen for various reasons, such as: Military service Injury or illness Vacation Business travel All states have protocols for early voting and absentee voting in general and primary elections. There are different types of absentee ballots. Some have different rules than others. The two main types of absentee voting are “no-excuse” and “qualified.” [...] This practice, known as ballot collecting or ballot harvesting, has been effective at increasing voter participation. It has also generated controversy and concern about election fraud in the form of unsubstantiated fraud claims. The practice of ballot collection as a voter service that can help many groups, such as: Elderly voters People with disabilities Native American voters living on remote reservations Beginning with the 2020 national elections, allegations of ballot harvesting were reported in the media, tied to election fraud.

• Ballot Harvesting - Lawyers Democracy Fund Is Now Center for Election Confidence

  # How Ballot Harvesting Works Ballot harvesting begins when a voter is given or requests to receive his or her ballot by mail. Once the voter’s ballot arrives, he or she has the opportunity to complete and return the ballot before the ballot return deadline. While the voter still has possession of his or her ballot, a ballot harvester will approach the individual (often with the aid of a voter list to know which voters received their ballots by mail) to offer the voter assistance in completing and/or returning the ballot. If the voter consents, the ballot harvester will collect the completed ballot and return it for the voter. Ballot harvesters will repeat this process to deliver as many ballots as possible before the deadline, which is usually Election Day. [...] Lawyers Democracy Fund Is Now Center for Election Confidence Instaappointment image # Ballot Harvesting Home / Other Issues / Ballot Harvesting When electors vote by mail, they typically have a few options for returning their completed ballots: by mail, by dropping them off at a polling location, or by delivering them to a designated drop box. Ballot harvesting, also known as ballot trafficking or third-party ballot collection, occurs when individuals take advantage of these options to “harvest” or collect voters’ completed ballots and return them on behalf of the voter. While it may seem like a kind gesture to assist voters in submitting their mail ballots, ballot harvesting can severely undermine the fairness and honesty of elections. # How Ballot Harvesting Works [...] # Ballot Harvesting Threatens the Fairness and Honesty of Elections Ballot harvesting currently presents one of the greatest threats to election integrity for multiple reasons. ## Lack of Oversight The first threat stems from the lack of oversight given to the handling of ballots in mail voting systems and the chain of custody that mail ballots pass through once they leave the supervision of election officials. During the election cycle, election administrators are tasked with maintaining and transporting thousands of ballots. But ballot harvesting puts this same power not in the hands of trained election officials but in the hands of private citizens with minimal accountability. Any number of issues can happen as a result, with little recourse for voters who are affected.

• Ballot Harvesting - Everything Policy - Briefs

  ### What you need to know ‍Ballot harvesting involves collecting absentee ballots from voters and delivering them to a collection spot. Critics argue that unethical harvesters could change votes on ballots, substitute new ones for the ones they collect, or only deliver ballots supporting their preferred candidates. More subtly, ballot harvesting might also allow a supervisor, professor, or other individual of authority to pressure underlings to vote as that particular individual wishes by watching them fill out ballots and then collecting them. [...] The Take-Away Ballot harvesting, or the distribution and collection of absentee ballots, is regulated by state law. The potential for fraudulent ballot harvesting varies across states. Only 13 states have electoral rules that make fraudulent ballot harvesting worthwhile. ### Enjoying this content? Support our mission through financial support. Donate Support our mission to educate the public and improve quality of life in America through sound policy. Share with a friend ## Further reading Olson, W. (2022) The Trouble with Ballot Harvesting. accessed 11/4/24 ## Sources Olson, W. (2022) The Trouble with Ballot Harvesting. accessed 11/4/24 National Conference of State Legislatures. (2024). Voting Beyond the Polling Place. , accessed 11/4/24 ## Contributors [...] We do not know how much ballot harvesting occurs. In some isolated cases, individuals have been convicted of collecting and tampering with absentee votes. However, research by Everything Policy finds that most states have voting procedures that reduce the incentives for widespread ballot harvesting. For widespread ballot harvesting to work, four things must be true about a state’s election procedures: No-excuse absentee voting (otherwise, there will be few ballots to harvest) Non-relatives are allowed to collect and return absentee ballots Higher limits on the number of ballots that one individual can return Widespread use of drop boxes (less scrutiny of people returning ballots)

• The Trouble With Ballot Harvesting | Cato at Liberty Blog

  For those coming in late, ballot harvesting or ballot collection happens when one person gathers absentee/​mail ballots from many voters – bundling, you might say – for submission at a mail or drop box. This obviously happens on an innocuous micro scale when someone offers to post the completed ballot of a spouse or disabled friend, so it’s usual to define the threshold by reference to quantity (you’re not a collector unless you accept more than, say, three or six ballots) or relationship (it’s okay to do it for family members or persons with a specified incapacity). [...] By Walter Olson SHARE The topic of ballot harvesting is likely to be the subject of much shouting in coming weeks, so for now I’d just like to get one point on the table: even for those of us who reject Trump’s ridiculous stolen-election claims, there are genuine reasons to be skeptical about this practice.

• Country

  United States