Every mail-in ballot should have unique fingerprints from the people they were mailed to. Yes, they will often have the prints from the people that handled the ballots without gloves on... but EVERY mailed-out ballot should have a unique set of prints from the individual that filled it out at home. These fingerprints will likely show up in places that poll-worker prints don't- how you handle a ballot you are filling out differs from how you fill out a ballot you are simply counting. ((Bear in mind, I am not saying we match the fingerprints to voters, merely establish that the prints exist.))
ALSO related: you can tell under a microscope if a piece of paper was folded only once or multiple times. A ballot that was mailed out and returned would register as having been folded multiple times!
They need to dust the ballots for prints!
Every mail-in ballot should have unique fingerprints from the people they were mailed to. Yes, they will often have the prints from the people that handled the ballots without gloves on... but EVERY mailed-out ballot should have a unique set of prints from the individual that filled it out at home. These fingerprints will likely show up in places that poll-worker prints don't- how you handle a ballot you are filling out differs from how you fill out a ballot you are simply counting. ((Bear in mind, I am not saying we match the fingerprints to voters, merely establish that the prints exist.))
ALSO related: you can tell under a microscope if a piece of paper was folded only once or multiple times. A ballot that was mailed out and returned would register as having been folded multiple times!
If only we had an FBI or someone whose fucking job it is to investigate possible crimes.