The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in the number of Americans who choose to vote by mail. For instance, North Carolina election officials expect 10 times the usual number of voters to cast their ballots by mail.

Absentee voting is an important option to protect the right to vote for those who are sick or afraid to vote in person due to COVID-19. However, voting by mail is not only more susceptible to fraud but threatens to disenfranchise voters who never receive their ballots or inadvertently complete their ballot incorrectly.

Numerous states have reported that large numbers of ballots were not counted during this year's primaries due to not meeting state requirements. On Monday, NPR reported that at least 65,000 mail ballots were rejected because they arrived past the return deadline. In California, over 102,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during its presidential primary. Ballots were rejected for reasons ranging from not meeting signature requirements to not being postmarked or received in time.

In New York City, many candidates still do not know who won their races that took place 3 weeks ago because the city is still counting ballots sent in by mail. The increased number of absentee voters has overwhelmed election officials who are already required to wait one week before counting mailed-in ballots. In Manhattan alone, the number of absentee voters in the presidential primary increased from 7,000 in 2016 to 121,000 in 2020.

Even if election officials overcome their obstacles, there are also concerns with the ability of the U.S. Postal Service to facilitate increased voting by mail. In Orleans Parish, Louisiana, 4,000 applications for mail-in ballots were discovered at a New Orleans post office on July 1st being held for allegedly not having enough postage.

Despite the issues inherent in voting by mail, liberals continue to push policies that make the voting by mail process even more susceptible to fraud than it already is. On Friday, a suit was filed in Wake County Superior Court challenging North Carolina's witness requirement for absentee ballots. The law was already amended in June for the duration of 2020 by reducing the number of witnesses from 2 to 1.

Voting in person remains the most reliable way for Americans to cast their ballots for President in November and for voters to know with certainty that their votes count.