Abolish all absentee/mail-in voting, except for very special exceptions for US government and military personnel stationed overseas, whose locations and/or duties make it impossible or unsafe for them to travel to the nearest US Embassy/Consulate or military base to vote in person. People who can't get to a polling place should not be allowed to vote, period.
One of the most important aspects of our voting system is casting secret ballots. Only truly secret ballots can be free of coercion or retaliation. Anyone who is filling out a ballot outside of a polling place can be coerced into voting as the coercer directs, or coerced into showing their vote with the knowledge that they may face retaliation. The coercer can be union bosses, abusive spouses, caregivers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities who are in a position to intimidate patients via threats of abuse or neglect (and in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, it's common for caregivers to "help" patients complete ballots, in some cases for patients who are legally blind and unable to confirm whether their ballot was filled out as directed). The coercers can also be neighborhood ballot harvesters, who insist on seeing the ballots before they're sealed in an envelope, and may threaten or arrange retaliation for "wrong" votes" or discard "wrong" ballots instead of delivering them as promised.
We need to harp on the fact that the only freely cast vote is an inherently secret vote.
Abolish all absentee/mail-in voting, except for very special exceptions for US government and military personnel stationed overseas, whose locations and/or duties make it impossible or unsafe for them to travel to the nearest US Embassy/Consulate or military base to vote in person. People who can't get to a polling place should not be allowed to vote, period.
One of the most important aspects of our voting system is casting secret ballots. Only truly secret ballots can be free of coercion or retaliation. Anyone who is filling out a ballot outside of a polling place can be coerced into voting as the coercer directs, or coerced into showing their vote with the knowledge that they may face retaliation. The coercer can be union bosses, abusive spouses, caregivers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities who are in a position to intimidate patients via threats of abuse or neglect (and in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, it's common for caregivers to "help" patients complete ballots, in some cases for patients who are legally blind and unable to confirm whether their ballot was filled out as directed). The coercers can also be neighborhood ballot harvesters, who insist on seeing the ballots before they're sealed in an envelope, and may threaten or arrange retaliation for "wrong" votes" or discard "wrong" ballots instead of delivering them as promised.
We need to harp on the fact that the only freely cast vote is an inherently secret vote.