BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — The presidential elections are only a couple months away, and with many still wary about the coronavirus, mail-in ballots are becoming a popular voting method this year.
“If you’re going to request a ballot by mail, we suggest that you do that early to be sure that there is no lag in the Post Office or how we receive those from you. So just be sure you submit your application early, be sure that you have time to vote your ballot and have time to get it back," said Brazos County elections administrator Trudy Hancock.
If you’re filling out the application, it is important you do so completely and sign with your regular signature.
“The ballot board checks that signature on the envelope against the signature on your application just to make sure that the same person requested the application that voted the ballot," said Hancock.
The Brazos County election administration has been receiving a steady flow of applications. But, while mail in ballots are becoming a popular and more cautious voting option, not all are on board.
“It’s an absentee ballot. If you’re over a certain age and can’t make it to the poll, you have the right to ask for one. If you’re in the military, or you’re overseas for election day you can ask for one. If you know you’re not going to be in Texas or in your district with your voting area on the election, you can ask for one. But outside of that, we should show up and vote in person. I think that’s more secure; it guarantees you know your vote got counted," said Brazos County Republican Party chairman David Hillburn.
Voter fraud by mail is one of Hillburn’s main concerns.
“Ballot by mail as a whole goes back to how it used to be. Where if one person can go around and steal mail and steal ballots and send them all in with the same person, it looks like a whole bunch of people have voted for that person, when in actuality, it’s one person that is manipulating a flawed system," said Hillburn.
We reached out to the Democratic Party as well for their take on mail-in ballots, but did not receive a response.
The deadline to register to vote is October 5, 2020.