Trust Index: Are mail-in ballots ‘substantially fraudulent’ as president claims?

Local election officials say voting by mail is safe

ORLANDO, Fla. – Earlier this week, President Donald Trump tweeted about voting by mail.

“There is no way -- zero -- that mail-in ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent,” the president wrote.

Bill Cowles has been the supervisor of elections in Orange County for nearly 25 years and says voting by mail is "absolutely" safe.

"The issues about fraud and all that has almost become a campaign tool to scare people," Cowles said.

"Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged and even illegally printed out and fraudulently signed," Trump wrote.

For the first time, Twitter added a link under Trump’s tweets urging users to get the facts about mail-in ballots.

It linked to news articles and experts that called Trump's claim unsubstantiated.

“Bottom line is all statistics show that the documented proven cases of fraud in elections is such a small fraction like .0025%,” Cowles said.

In Florida, ballots are only mailed after a registered voter requests them, according to Cowles.

Voters can fill out the ballots at home then return them by mail, or drop them off at early voting sites, or hand deliver them to the election's office, Cowles said.

He said voters should be responsible with their ballots and “don’t give your ballot to anybody you don’t know,” he said.

Also, Florida voter records show Trump has voted by mail.

His press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who also criticized mail-in ballots, voted by mail a dozen times in the past 10 years, according to CBS news.

We give the president’s comments that mail-in ballots will be substantially fraudulent.

Not True

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Not true on the trust index.


About the Author:

Emmy Award-winning reporter Louis Bolden joined the News 6 team in September of 2001 and hasn't gotten a moment's rest since. Louis has been a General Assignment Reporter for News 6 and Weekend Morning Anchor. He joined the Special Projects/Investigative Unit in 2014.