Giving third parties who have a stake in the outcome of an election access to voters and their absentee ballots in an unsupervised setting is not wise, and is a proven threat to the integrity of the election process. The handling of absentee ballots should be restricted to voters, most immediate family members, or an individual residing in their household. This will prevent campaigns, political parties, and other third parties from handling absentee ballots. And—while this should go without saying—election fraud of any sort, by any perpetrator, is an affront to America’s republican values.
Ballot harvesting is the practice in which political operatives collect absentee ballots from voters' homes and drop them off at a polling place or election office. It may sound pretty innocuous, but this practice can and has been abused across the country.
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.
Most states have laws permitting someone besides a voter to return the voter's mail ballot. These laws vary by state. Mail ballots take the form of absentee ballots and ballots cast in vote-by-mail states.
Policy Recommendations for State Governments
A comprehensive database providing a wide sampling of proven instances of election fraud from across the country.
A non-governmental organization working toward accuracy, integrity, and verifiability of elections. Offers a plethora of resources, including a Verifier tool to check voting systems used in each region.
An independent agency of the U.S. government that serves as a national resource of information and expertise on election administration.