Editor,

In response to the letter to the editor, “Think mail-in votes lead to fraud? Here’s an idea,” in the July 8 Whidbey News-Times.

In ballot-by-mail, many assumptions are made. That the ballot will reach the intended recipient, it will be marked by that eligible recipient, that person puts it in the mail, and it will reach the polling station. However. the chain of custody is interrupted between the post office drop-off of the ballot and when the intended recipient receives it.

Mailboxes are subject to theft of these ballots.

In Patterson, N.J., post office officials found ballots improperly bundled together. In another mailbox hundreds of ballots were bundled into a single packet and these were turned over to law officials to investigate potential criminal activity related to the collection of the ballots.

With another 2,300 ballots, the signatures did not match those on voter records. Some citizens were listed as having voted but reported they never received a ballot and did not vote. Multiple reports stated large numbers of mail-in ballots were left on the lobby floors of apartment buildings and not delivered to residents’ individual mailboxes.

One individual confessed to stealing completed and incomplete ballots out of mailboxes. Living in densely populated cities in America, with lots of residents living in high-rise buildings that have communal mailboxes these are prime targets for ballot theft.

Washington state seems to have a handle on mail-in balloting with signatures on ballots checked with those on file. But the rest of the country is ripe for voter mail-in fraud as outlined above. So you can bet, with the extreme importance of the November election, voter fraud will be alive and in play.

In-person voting, with a valid picture ID, is the best way to vote to ensure election integrity.

Ed Hickey

Oak Harbor